9/21/89 Remembered

The first line of Earth, Wind and Fire's 1979 hit "September" is: "Do you remember the 21st of September..." If you lived in the Carolinas in 1989 from Charleston through Columbia, to Charlotte and on up to the Virginia line, Hugo is a name you'll never forget.

The eye wall hit the South Carolina Coast just northeast of Charleston sometime before midnight on the 21st. Fortunately, it struck at LOW tide. The 140 mile an hour winds and 20 foot storm surge caused enough damage. It maintained Hurricane strength up into Virginia. 30 miles up the coast from Charleston, the fishing village of McClellanville was virtually covered by that huge wall of water. 150 miles inland, Charlotteans were digging out from under broken limbs, toppled electric poles and downed trees for weeks.

September 21st is also the anniversary of the deadly 1938 Hurricane which struck the northeast (parts of New York and New England), claiming some 600 lives.