╕ ╨««NATION, Page 16Winds of ChaosFrom the Caribbean to the Carolinas, Hurricane Hugo's path ofdestruction marks it as one of the fiercest storms of the decadeBy 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
