I will never forget that day and the destruction it caused.
OT: Hugo hit 35 years ago…Sept 22
- Thread starter CWW
- Start date
I was a student at USC then, thanks for reminding me it was 35 years ago. 
Left Conway that morning to take my grandmother to Stone mountain Georgia for my cousin's wedding. I-20 between Florence and Columbia was a scene from a post-apocalyptic fantasy movie. Giant trees were scattered like toothpicks on the kitchen floor in the area where the eyewall crossed on its way to North Carolina. I drove my Ford Taurus over around and through the median and shoulders of the highway to get through. I was out of gas and decided to park in Columbia to figure out what to do because the stations had no power. Rounded a building to find a convenience store with power and gas. Waited in line to fill up and made it to my aunt's before dark.
I was 4 years old and my parents, 2 of my older sisters, my older brother and I had just moved into a 2 story house in Walterboro(my mom and dad had moved the family there about a year and a half before I was born) maybe 2 months before Hugo hit. This was the first time I got a bedroom all to myself, and that night I remember the lightning, thunder, and wind and for the next couple of years when it would storm at night, I insisted on sleeping on the floor in my parents bedroom.
Lived in Charlotte at the time. At first, the power was on & off causing my answering machine (remember those??) to run its cycle, with each interruption.
Chain saws in the daylight, power generators at night for 14 days 7 hours. Supermarket areas were rank with the aroma of spoiled ice cream, & milk and rotting meat.
No cell phones then. No communication with HOME OFFICE ... LOL!!!
The first 2 days .... IT WAS FUN!!! Neighborhood B-B-Q cook-outs!!! Day 3 to 10???? Survival!!! Toilet Paper = $3/roll. Peanut Butter = $7/ jar! Why sell a COLD shower for $5 when you could get $12???
Susie CREAMCHEESE, who lived across the street and got power back, the day before was almost lynched when she came tip-toeing by, asking ... " I Just Got My Power Back On!!!"
Chain saws in the daylight, power generators at night for 14 days 7 hours. Supermarket areas were rank with the aroma of spoiled ice cream, & milk and rotting meat.
No cell phones then. No communication with HOME OFFICE ... LOL!!!
The first 2 days .... IT WAS FUN!!! Neighborhood B-B-Q cook-outs!!! Day 3 to 10???? Survival!!! Toilet Paper = $3/roll. Peanut Butter = $7/ jar! Why sell a COLD shower for $5 when you could get $12???
Susie CREAMCHEESE, who lived across the street and got power back, the day before was almost lynched when she came tip-toeing by, asking ... " I Just Got My Power Back On!!!"
I was a Freshman living at Whaley's Mill. Swam in the pool that night - even though it was closed. Pretty much dumb, 18-year-old stupidity.
The girl next to me in Econ lived on the battery. Her house was destroyed. She was too good for me, but I tried to get a date with her. Big fail.
The girl next to me in Econ lived on the battery. Her house was destroyed. She was too good for me, but I tried to get a date with her. Big fail.