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We lived near the Morrison regional library at the time.
Huddled in a lower floor bathroom all night listening to WBT (love them!), sounded like the house was falling down.
The next morning was like a scene from 'I Am Legend', very apocalyptic.
I carried the chain saw around in the trunk for a few days just to get around, and this is around SouthPark! No power for 7 days. Rode downtown and nearly every building had windows blown out onto the street.
Ani, as I am SUPPOSED to be working, I am taking the lazy way out, lol! I remembered discussing this before and went and found the old thread. People might enjoy reading what others wrote previously about their Hugo experiences here:
hehehe....I'm taking the easy way out from that thread too:
posted by me:
Quote:
Out of school for 2 weeks!! I was in the 5th grade.
I remember powerlines down every where in our neighborhood. And TONS of pine trees down.
We had a well and were without water for over a week. We had to go up to my aunt and uncles in the same neighborhood to take showers/etc. Providence Woods in half Mecklenburg/Union counties.
I remember my mom joking about parking her mini van in the street so a tree would hit it.
I remember getting woke up around 2am to get in the hallway with the rest of the fam. We didn't sleep and I was so mad because it was dark and I couldn't see the storm out of the window.
Honeychilds, none of you ain't seen nothing like what I went through with Andrew in Miami. Try for several weeks with no power, no food, NOTHING. Everything was destroyed.
I still have no trees Hugo took them all and the ones we planted are now just about dead from the drought.
Awwwwww - that is just awful! I am so sorry. Yes, many spots had trees all wiped out. There were many tornadoes that spun off from the hurricane - so the devastation was both from wind and water - and also, spots that were chewed up from tornadoes.
So sorry you have gotten a double whammy. I fear many of our trees are going to show the signs of this drought several years down the road. The damage from droughts can take years to finally show up! There may be a whole lot of people finding out their trees (wh/ look fine now!!!) are also going to be ruined like yours have.
Honeychilds, none of you ain't seen nothing like what I went through with Andrew in Miami. Try for several weeks with no power, no food, NOTHING. Everything was destroyed.
Andrew WAS a monster - poor Florida. Closest to it I lived thru was Camille as a child, and as a smaller child, Betsy. I am a hurricane veteran
Me too, Carolina. I went back and found last year's post:
It was amazing. I still remember the emotions that surrounded this event. For me, it was one of the most memorable events of my life in Charlotte. LOVES says that they were awakened by the noise of the wind. We had the opposite experience: the noise was so loud that it was deafening. My husband and I slept through most of the real storm, awakening only when our teenage daughter came down to our room and asked us if what she had just heard on the radio was true: UNCC and all other area schools were canceled. My husband waking from a deep sleep replied that UNCC never canceled classes and would she please go back upstairs so he could finish sleeping. At that point we started to be aware of what was going on - it was about 5 am!! A large tree had barely missed our bedroom in its fall but the noise was so loud we did not hear a thing.
When the sun came up, it was a gorgeous day; pristine - something like what one would expect on the first day in the Garden of Eden. Fresh air, bright sunshine and raindrops sparkling everywhere. The good part came next. Everyone was out on the street helping each other. Chain saws whirred everywhere as neighbor helped neighbor try to clear the roads. In the evening people took all of the meat out of their freezers and neighborhoods grilled food together. There existed such a basket of mixed emotions.
As I reread the former posts about Hugo I found another one of mine which I think is worth repeating.
I think the most lasting effects of Hugo for Charlotte were:
(1) Our loss of trees throughout the city.
(2) Our refusal to disregard future storm warnings.
(3) Citizen preparation for future storms (generators, heaters, flashlights, etc.)
(4) The good will one witnessed as neighbor got to know neighbor better.
As I read what I had posted I realized that in spite of our best intentions we never have gotten the generator we swore that we would get. I know what I'm going to do tomorrow!!!
Hugo was a major tropical storm that blasted Charlotte. In fact, with sustained winds that awful night of 90 mph +, Hugo in Charlotte met the criteria of a hurricane.
People moving here are SERIOUSLY misinformed if they assume tropical weather can't affect our area.
It's not as likely as being located directly on coastline. But Hugo blasted apart Charleston and that area and roared a path right through Charlotte.
That night was scary as hell. I cringe when new neighbors from Florida tell me they move here partly to get away from hurricanes, yet have done no stocking up on supplies or thought of the possibility here.
We had no power for 5 days afterward, some downed trees, and we were lucky. Many had no power for much longer, and falling trees and wind damage did destroy/damage houses in Beverly Woods where I grew up.
I remember the Observer doing a story a couple weeks later that homeowners and motorists were yelling/baiting out of town power crews to get the power restored...a signal of the frustration that grew then.
I think such a storm would be worse now. In those days, most homes in Charlotte weren't McMansions like new construction. Mostly one or split level brick construction. More and larger exposed windows and some non-brick building materials today would create far more property damage.
This is our house the day after, and this was nothingl
I lived in Charleston when Hugo hit. I remember all of the people who fled Charleston and headed for Charlotte....
It was a terrible experience. Very scary. Several family members had four + feet of water in their homes. I had just gotten a job at a tv station in Charleston, and Hugo took our broadcast tower. We were off the air for over a month, and at reduced power for several after that.
After I had moved to Charlotte, there was a hurricane coming up the coast (I think it was Floyd) and they predicted it would follow Hugo's path. I must say I freaked out a little.
I just wanted to note that Hugo has been officially reported as having sustained winds of 54 mph when it reached Charlotte, with gusts up to 90, not sustained winds of 90. Not quibbling, but there is a big difference and I wanted all you savvy folks to be armed with same for (dreaded) future reference.
Was not here for Hugo, but have had a bit of experience in other locales (SE FL last 20 years). OP Ani has already heard my tales. When asked to provide advice, I have a couple of pieces to give:
1) While our abilities to predict the path of a hurricane have improved, the same cannot be said for predicting intensity, even 175 miles inland. Always consider and prepare for the worst-case scenario.
2) If you plan to weather a storm, you need to have a really, really, really well-thought-out plan. Even here in Charlotte, if one thinks that "safe room" and "mattress sandwich" sound a bit much, IMO one is being extremely naive.
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Hugo took them all and the ones we planted are now just about dead from the drought.
