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I am considering a move to Charleston. I have heard a few horror stories about Hurricane Hugo - I was just wondering what types of impacts any tropical storms/hurricanes have had on the area since then. I am particularly interested in the downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant areas.
Specifically:
1) Have there been any evacuations of downtown/Mt. P since Hugo?
2) Have there been extended power outages for either area since Hugo?
There's been a couple of tropical storms/cat 1 storms. Impact was minimal. The usual places flooded and the ones that don't flood didn't. No one evacuates for a tropical storm or Cat 1 unless you live in an RV or rickety trailer. Shoot, I was once on a vacation in a beachfront house and we got a Cat 1. Had a nice dinner in that night and that was about the only impact.
Power outages - maybe a couple of days tops but really most people don't lose power for a significant time during those small storms.
Evacuations - Floyd came close, evacuations commenced. It was a mess but honestly, any large scale evacuation is a mess. Since then, the state has changed some policies (e.g. reversing traffic on 26) which should help if it happens again.
Hugo was big, yes, but also unusual. This area just does not see many hurricanes. Buy some great insurance, clear out when you need to, and if the worst happens (e.g. another Hugo), remember it's just stuff. It's the risk of living in a coastal environment but you have to decide if the benefit outweighs the small chance of a major hurricane.
During high tide, due to being below sea-level, there are parts of Charleston that flood in a light to moderate rain, it's been this way since I moved here in the 70's and I feel it will always be that way. Hurricane Hugo was by far the worst disaster I've experienced (even having a tornado fly over the house in Texas) and it caused wide-spread destruction, but even with that being said, there were only like 4 deaths if I remember correctly. The big ones can certainly cause a ton of destruction. That whole winter after Hugo hit was spent in my neighborhood, with a chainsaw in my hand, cutting trees up for folks. It was a special time, everyone had a real sense of community and loving your neighbor. We all shared food, water, etc and were quick to give our neighbors rides or help them with a tree on their home etc.
What Hugo did to the coast of SC was terrible, but, the times just afterwards were beautiful and I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything.
During high tide, due to being below sea-level, there are parts of Charleston that flood in a light to moderate rain, it's been this way since I moved here in the 70's and I feel it will always be that way. Hurricane Hugo was by far the worst disaster I've experienced (even having a tornado fly over the house in Texas) and it caused wide-spread destruction, but even with that being said, there were only like 4 deaths if I remember correctly. The big ones can certainly cause a ton of destruction. That whole winter after Hugo hit was spent in my neighborhood, with a chainsaw in my hand, cutting trees up for folks. It was a special time, everyone had a real sense of community and loving your neighbor. We all shared food, water, etc and were quick to give our neighbors rides or help them with a tree on their home etc.
What Hugo did to the coast of SC was terrible, but, the times just afterwards were beautiful and I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything.
I am considering a move to Charleston. I have heard a few horror stories about Hurricane Hugo - I was just wondering what types of impacts any tropical storms/hurricanes have had on the area since then. I am particularly interested in the downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant areas.
Specifically:
1) Have there been any evacuations of downtown/Mt. P since Hugo?
2) Have there been extended power outages for either area since Hugo?
Any insight would be much appreciated. Thank you.
WiseManOnceSaid gave a very thorough answer, and he's right. I've lived in the area since 2007 and haven't had to evacuate. One time there was a hurricane warning and nobody left, people were surfing the same day because it didn't get bad. (Not that I'd recommend that!)
If flooding is something that's going to worry you no matter what, there are several areas that are out of flood zones - Summerville, Goose Creek, lots of West Ashley, several areas in Mt. Pleasant, Wando/Cainhoy, etc.
It's a wonderful city and having lived in 5 or so other cities, I'd never live anywhere else!
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