Hurricane Hugo
- Thread starter copdsux
- Start date
pelicn
Veteran Expediter
How about observations....Me and a fellow Navy wife, our husbands were both volunteer firefighters and they were at the firehouse. 5 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats huddled in my hallway. The sound of the wind howling. The silence of the radio. The Texaco roof in my front yard before the eye went through, and gone in the morning. The stars shining bright during the eye. Never before, or since, the black of night like it was then. No electricity anywhere.
Miles and miles of trees broken off 20 ft from the ground. 50 ft oak trees ripped out of the ground, or splintered like toothpicks. Stairs leading to nothing. Houses /boats sitting in the middle of the street.
Gun shots in the night. The smell of fresh cut wood, the sound of chainsaws in the daylight, the smell of charcoal grills cooking thawing food. Neighbors helping neighbors.
We lived in Hunley Park, across from the AFB, and I never realized how many trees we had in Charleston until they were laying on the ground.
there was no school for over 3 weeks, the school had been attacked by trees.
Halloween will always be remembered for our 15ft high/8ft wide "privacy fence" of brush out front.
Hugo was the first major storm that FEMA was involved with, and they didn't show up until about 3 days after the storm went through. National guard troops came in on day 3 I believe. I remember Charleston's Police chief made a statement on the radio the morning after the storm went through. Looters will be shot, we have no place to put them. The jail had been destroyed.
It was an experience that I don't really want to go through again, but it is one that I'm glad I went through.
Miles and miles of trees broken off 20 ft from the ground. 50 ft oak trees ripped out of the ground, or splintered like toothpicks. Stairs leading to nothing. Houses /boats sitting in the middle of the street.
Gun shots in the night. The smell of fresh cut wood, the sound of chainsaws in the daylight, the smell of charcoal grills cooking thawing food. Neighbors helping neighbors.
We lived in Hunley Park, across from the AFB, and I never realized how many trees we had in Charleston until they were laying on the ground.
there was no school for over 3 weeks, the school had been attacked by trees.
Halloween will always be remembered for our 15ft high/8ft wide "privacy fence" of brush out front.
Hugo was the first major storm that FEMA was involved with, and they didn't show up until about 3 days after the storm went through. National guard troops came in on day 3 I believe. I remember Charleston's Police chief made a statement on the radio the morning after the storm went through. Looters will be shot, we have no place to put them. The jail had been destroyed.
It was an experience that I don't really want to go through again, but it is one that I'm glad I went through.
We took a full D load of water purification chemicals from Chicago to the Charleston Water Supply facility. It was a absolute mess down there. I remember telling Roberts to get the word out to the fleet that if you were heading into this area make sure you had plenty of fuel and food on board and they did generate a fleet message.
hptptrucking
Seasoned Expediter
Can't believe it has been that long ago. Being born and raised 20 miles north of Charlotte, NC in what used to be a small town called Cornelius/Lake Norman, I will never forget HUGO. At the time I lived in Charlotte and my youngest daughter was 2 at the time. It came through in the middle of the night and was very scary. Charlotte looked like a war zone. There was no bad damage to my home but most of my neighbors homes were damaged badly. We packed up and went to my parents in Cornelius because we had no power (which was off for 11 days). My parents being 25 miles north had it bad also but my father & brother worked for the police dept and both were firemen so we had a place to go for shelter until things could get back to norm. The this day both my daughters fear storms of severity. Hope we stay free of them.
Lady Tee & Big Pappa
Lady Tee & Big Pappa
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Sorry about that, I was going to post something by editing the post but I ran out of time thanks to my cats.
Anyway I have a lot of memories and a lot more pictures of what went on when I went through Hugo. I wasn't military, I was working at the shipyards for a number of months and I owned a home on Foley Island, almost buying one on the Isle of Palms but lucked out in a way.
I was there but not for the storm - I was being bounced around like a cork in the ocean on a frigate that decided to go through some of the storm instead of skirting around it. I almost lost my house which I just closed on a week before. I lost my job in late October and came back to Michigan on thanksgiving day. Hugo was part of the cause, the congress was the other part.
Because of the damage at the ship yards, we didn't return back to work until October but did stay there until we could return to our homes.
Seeing Downtown Charleston was sad, right around the old Library and the old Citadel with the glass and debris all over the road. I remember taking a truck down the streets to deliver to a relief center and it was a ghost town mid-day - spooky.
The amount of trees that were lost we were later told were enough to build a complete city the size of Charleston, there was an effort made to clear the trees by a farmer and mules on Johns Island – they did a great job.
As much damage as Hugo did, Mayor Riley and police Chief Greenberg did a great job before, during and after the storm. I think their cool heads and the fortitude of the people of Charleston prevented it turning into a real mess like Katrina and New Orleans. Yes FEMA was late in responding but I don’t remember the crying we still see with N.O. or the ‘we need more money’ to fix things attitude I still see in N.O. after two years. I know that there was more of a community concern of people with Hugo than with Katrina, which I mean that the community step forward to help, not the government but I also know going down there two years after to visit Charleston was way ahead of recovery than N.O. will be for another year or two. I think as bad as a disasters can be, Charleston actual is the example we need to follow.
Anyway I have a lot of memories and a lot more pictures of what went on when I went through Hugo. I wasn't military, I was working at the shipyards for a number of months and I owned a home on Foley Island, almost buying one on the Isle of Palms but lucked out in a way.
I was there but not for the storm - I was being bounced around like a cork in the ocean on a frigate that decided to go through some of the storm instead of skirting around it. I almost lost my house which I just closed on a week before. I lost my job in late October and came back to Michigan on thanksgiving day. Hugo was part of the cause, the congress was the other part.
Because of the damage at the ship yards, we didn't return back to work until October but did stay there until we could return to our homes.
Seeing Downtown Charleston was sad, right around the old Library and the old Citadel with the glass and debris all over the road. I remember taking a truck down the streets to deliver to a relief center and it was a ghost town mid-day - spooky.
The amount of trees that were lost we were later told were enough to build a complete city the size of Charleston, there was an effort made to clear the trees by a farmer and mules on Johns Island – they did a great job.
As much damage as Hugo did, Mayor Riley and police Chief Greenberg did a great job before, during and after the storm. I think their cool heads and the fortitude of the people of Charleston prevented it turning into a real mess like Katrina and New Orleans. Yes FEMA was late in responding but I don’t remember the crying we still see with N.O. or the ‘we need more money’ to fix things attitude I still see in N.O. after two years. I know that there was more of a community concern of people with Hugo than with Katrina, which I mean that the community step forward to help, not the government but I also know going down there two years after to visit Charleston was way ahead of recovery than N.O. will be for another year or two. I think as bad as a disasters can be, Charleston actual is the example we need to follow.
Pappy
Expert Expediter
Sometimes good things come from bad things.
I took some time after Hugo came thru to go to Myrtle Beach and help a dear friend re-build his house at Ocean Lakes.
At the same time a very special lady from Fairborne,OH decided to take a vacation from her 2 jobs at Wright State U and Wright-Patt AFB.
Fate would have us meet and for the next 6 months we managed a long distance relationship.
She then moved to SC and became Mrs. Pappy and has now been my Bride for almost 18 years!
Pappy
I took some time after Hugo came thru to go to Myrtle Beach and help a dear friend re-build his house at Ocean Lakes.
At the same time a very special lady from Fairborne,OH decided to take a vacation from her 2 jobs at Wright State U and Wright-Patt AFB.
Fate would have us meet and for the next 6 months we managed a long distance relationship.
She then moved to SC and became Mrs. Pappy and has now been my Bride for almost 18 years!
Pappy