The vast damage a powerful hurricane can do is tough
to describe to someone who hasn't lived through one. It stirs awe.
Hurricane Rita in the Gulf of Mexico is another monstrous storm, with 175 mph
winds like freight trains pushing a storm surge as tall as buildings. It's
expected to make landfall Saturday in Texas.
Its tropical storm force winds stretched wider than the length of the South
Carolina coastline, and it has the potential to be the most powerful hurricane
ever recorded to hit the United States.
In the Lowcountry, the mere thought of such a storm leaves a hole in the pit
of the stomach and has a name, "Hugo."
On Sept. 21, 1989, Hugo landed as a Category 4 hurricane with 135 mph winds,
its eye passing over the Charleston peninsula.For miles from the eye and for
miles inland, homes were snapped apart like matchsticks. Hugo was still a
hurricane when the eye passed through Charlotte, 200 miles away. It killed 29
people and caused $4 billion in damage.
"The destruction was massive," said Linda Lombard, then the Charleston County
Council chairwoman. "It hits you emotionally afterward, when you see the homes
crushed and people without anywhere to live."
But Hugo was not the strongest or the worst hurricane to hit the United
States. Andrew was a Category 5 when it hit South Florida in 1992.
It's considered the most destructive, causing $26.5 billion in damage. A 1900
storm that struck at Galveston, Texas, is still considered the deadliest
hurricane, killing 8,000 to 10,000 people.
Andrew is considered the fourth-strongest recorded hurricane to make
landfall. Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast in August, is considered the
third. Hugo is 11th. The worst was an unnamed storm that wracked the Florida
Keys in 1935. Rita could be worse.
"Your heart just goes out to them. When a hurricane forms, everyone on the
East Coast prays," Lombard said. "You never forget the destruction. You never
forget the heartache. You never forget the courage."
If Hugo made landfall here today, it would do more than $5 billion in damage.
With more than 1 million people living on the coast and hundreds of thousands of
tourists, nobody knows how many lives it could take.
"Size, in this case, does matter, with development in the last 16 years. The
damage from wind, tornadoes and flood can spread throughout the state. We plan
for extensive damage not only on the coast but well inland," said John
Boettcher, South Carolina Emergency Management hurricane program manager.
"In one word? Prepare."
Bo Petersen can be reached at (843) 745-5852 or bopete@postandcourier.com.
