TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/100289/10028900.022

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 6.8 KB | 137 lines

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Winds of Chaos


From the Caribbean to the Carolinas, Hurricane Hugo's path of
destruction marks it as one of the fiercest storms of the decade

By Ed Magnuson


    Beginning as a tropical depression, an area of low pressure
off the west coast of Africa, it whirled across the Atlantic,
gathering strength from the moist tropical air, puffing itself
up into a fearsome 150-m.p.h. hurricane. At week's end Hurricane
Hugo, its fury spent, whimpered out in rainfall over southern
Canada. Between its gentle birth and welcome demise, Hugo carved
an awesome arc of destruction in a 2,300-mile sweep from the
Caribbean island of Guadeloupe to the Carolinas.

    Like a holiday cruise ship from hell, Hugo hit the major
ports of call in the islands, killing at least 28 people and
causing more than $2 billion in property damage. After pausing
to regain its strength, it slammed into Charleston, S.C., with
135-m.p.h. winds. Its swath embraced coastal resorts and barrier
islands well into North Carolina, leveling seaside homes and
leaving communities isolated and without power. Eleven people
were killed, and insurance experts predicted that the covered
damage costs may exceed $753 million, the record payout caused
by Hurricane Frederic in 1979.

    Frederic assaulted the Bahamas, Alabama and Mississippi
just two weeks after Hurricane David killed 1,200 people in the
Dominican Republic, then spread destruction from Florida to
Canada. Hugo was the fiercest storm to strike the U.S. East
Coast since then. Last year, almost to the week, Gilbert, a
maximum Category 5 hurricane with 175-m.p.h. winds, had howled
along a more westerly course, pounding Jamaica before stomping
into Mexico and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

    Thanks to the increasing proficiency of storm forecasters
and a greater readiness to heed their warnings, the loss of
life inflicted by Hugo was minimal. A mass exodus from coastal
areas saved countless people in the U.S. Except for a few
diehards who refused to leave their low-lying homes, Hugo found
few lives to endanger.

    The hurricane's weeklong assault began at 1 a.m. on Sunday
as its 140-m.p.h. shriek shattered the sleep of the 340,000
residents and uncounted tourists on Guadeloupe. "There's nothing
left of St. Francois," reported the resort town's mayor, Ernest
Moutoussamy. Eleven people were killed.

    Not slowing in the slightest, Hugo fell on Montserrat, an
elevenv-mile-wide British island of 12,000 residents. Tin roofs
were ripped off houses and nearly every building sustained
serious damage, leaving few inhabitants with either shelter or
fresh water. The wooded mountains that had inspired visitors to
call Montserrat the Emerald Isle turned brown as most of the
green trees lost their tops. "It was paradise here," said
Governor Christopher Turner, who placed the damage at $100
million. "Now we're back to the kerosene age and washing in the
river.'x' Ten residents died.

    Next to be mauled were other Leeward Islands. Antigua and
Barbuda caught only glancing blows, but they were powerful
enough to cause $37 million in damage. In St. Kitts and Nevis,
more directly in the storm's path, ham-radio operators estimated
that 99% of the population of 48,000 was homeless. Damage there
was put at $50 million.

    Still on a northwesterly course, the hurricane swept into
the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas. On St.
Croix nearly all its houses were damaged or destroyed and most
of its 53,000 people were left without shelter. The huge Amerada
Hess Corp. refinery was knocked out for at least 60 days,
eliminating its daily production of 545,000 bbl. of oil and
sending gasoline futures higher on world markets. Even worse was
an outbreak of looting and rioting by armed gangs of local
residents who shouted, "Whitey, go home!" at tourists and
ransacked stores in the main cities. President Bush dispatched
1,200 military police, U.S. marshals and FBI agents to restore
order.

    By Monday morning Hugo closed in on Puerto Rico, still
packing a 140-m.p.h. punch. In the 33-mile stretch between the
capital of San Juan and Fajardo in the northeast, 80% of the
houses lost their roofs. Virtually every building in downtown
San Juan sustained damage. Hugo seemed to single out two groups
for special punishment, blasting out windows in the high-rise
hotels catering to tourists and demolishing the fragile slum
shacks of the island's poor. More than three-fourths of the
Caribbean National Forest was knocked down. The tiny islands of
Vieques and Culebra were flattened. Seven were known dead in
Puerto Rico, more than 30,000 were left homeless, and damage was
tagged at $300 million.

    Moving slowly across open ocean for three days while
regaining its 135-m.p.h. punch, Hugo gave authorities in South
and North Carolina ample time to evacuate coastal areas. The
highways west of such resort centers as Hilton Head and Myrtle
Beach were snarled, and some profiteering developed (gas was
sometimes sold at $10 a gal. and $10 sheets of plywood for $30),
but the movement proved prudent.

    Hugo began its attack on historic Charleston about midnight
on Thursday. The showcase city of antebellum mansions and
broad, oak-shaded avenues had not been hit by a major hurricane
in 30 years. Now the devilishly timed onslaught coincided with
high tide, propelling 17-ft. waves toward shore. The wall of
water rolled into Charleston's streets, carrying a score of
boats and a 50-ft. yacht with it. In the harbor, Fort Sumter of
Civil War fame sustained $1 million in damage, and the
destruction at a nearby Air Force base was described by the
Pentagon as "catastrophic."

    Piling insult on injury, Hugo ripped off part of the roof
of Charleston's city hall even as officials gathered there to
plan disaster relief. Thirty buildings collapsed, and homes
throughout the area were blown down. The storm was broad enough
to smash Garden City Beach, a luxurious resort community 70
miles north of Charleston. "Garden City for all practical
purposes is gone," said M.L. Love, a county administrator. South
of battered and deserted Myrtle Beach, 14 houses were destroyed
on Pawley's Island. Hugo even knocked out power in Charlotte,
N.C., some 200 miles from the sea.

    As Hugo neared the Appalachians, it finally seemed to weary
of its frightening game. On Friday morning it diminished to a
tropical storm, then headed through West Virginia, Pennsylvania
and New York, carrying dwindling winds and showers into Canada.
But even as Hugo faded, its memory would live long for all those
who were unfortunate enough to be in its path and now must
rebuild their battered homes -- and shaken lives.


-- James Carney/Miami and Joseph J. Kane/Charleston