It’s been [27] years since Hugo tore into the Lowcountry, its eye passing just north of Charleston Harbor and leaving an indelible scar on the lives of the people who lived it.
If a storm that powerful made landfall today just south of Hugo’s path, at Kiawah Island, the buzz saw of its worst, north-side winds would shear nearly all of the Charleston metro area and the storm surge would submerge the barrier islands.
According to an experimental Hazus computer model run by a College of Charleston team, a landfall just south of the city from a Hugo-scale hurricane could tear up nearly half the homes in the region and destroy tens of thousands of them. Tens of thousands of people would be homeless, at least temporarily, and thousands forced to shelters. Businesses and jobs could come to a standstill, and the loss to the economy alone could be far more than $2 billion.
I grew up in hurricane country and rode out many storms. Hurricanes Betsy and Camille were particularly bad. We thought we wouldn’t have to worry about hurricanes when we moved to Rock Hill, SC which is a 3 hour drive to the coast. Hugo proved us wrong. We had trees down everywhere but thankfully one only grazed the house. We had no power for two weeks. There are some things people can do to reduce the risk of loss of life and limb from hurricanes, and while my father taught me to never buy a beach house, Hugo proved that you can get hit even if you live well away from the shore.