It was 20 years ago today that Hurricane Hugo hit us. It came onshore at Charleston, SC with 140 MPH winds.
Before we went to bed we were warned by the TV weatherman that we may get some wind so we might want to put up any lawn furniture.

By midnight it was obvious that this hurricane was not degrading as it should and we were in the storms direct path. At 4 AM the hurricane was on top of us with trees snapping, power was out and the roar of tornadoes filled the air on top of the hurricane. I remember the loud sounds vividly.

It took weeks to get power back and years to clean up fallen trees. No one rebuilt or cleaned up for us. We did it slowly as we could afford it.

After 20 years my foliage has grown back to the point that I hired someone just this weekend to clear out some space to give me the elbow room the storm afforded me 20 years ago.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yet one more thing that connects you to St. Croix.
An unimaginable event.

Ken said...

"Hugo" I remember it well. I had my little varnished hull boat stored in the mangroves of English Harbor, Antigua. Tore her up pretty bad.

AmyK said...

We moved to Columbia, S.C. the year after Hugo. I was stunned to see the palmettos were just trunks in Columbia. In Charleston, there miles of brand new timber on the homes that sat on the water. There was still some debris being washed ashore a year later. But the homes on the Battery still stood tall and proud. They have weathered far more than just mother nature.

MELackey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MELackey said...

too bad Charlotte is so far. We bought a Bobcat for the ranch, complete with a tree sheer and a grapple attachment to clear away the brush once you clear it out. I need some practice running it.