JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
It's official. Another hurricane season is here.
During the last few years, Charleston has been spared the wrath of Mother Nature as storm after storm has pounded into Florida, North Carolina and the Gulf of Mexico. We watch the news, plot the storm's movement on our little storm plotters and pray the storms remain at sea.
For those of you new to the area, and for many of you who have never felt the fury of one of nature's most powerful forces, rest assured, the Lowcountry is not immune from a direct hit by a hurricane.
I've been fortunate. My worst experience was a Category 1 storm while stationed in Norfolk, Va. The storm came ashore along the Outer Banks of North Carolina south of Norfolk and made a slow curving arc inland, leaving the Tidewater area of Virginia exposed to the storm for almost eight hours as the storm turned north. We foolishly stood outside on our porch with our neighbors and watched as pine trees were snapped in two by the force of the winds which were only gusting to 100 mph. It was an awesome thing to watch even though in the overall scheme of things, this was a baby hurricane.
Now, let's go back 22 years to Sept. 21, 1989. At midnight, hurricane Hugo slammed into South Carolina near Isle of Palms as a Category 4 storm. The storm surge swamped the Carolina coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach with maximum tides 20 feet above normal.
My wife, who was in Florence, S.C., at the time, rode out the storm with her family. They lost electricity for two weeks. Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., reported sustained winds of 67 mph and gusts up to 110 mph.
Hugo claimed 21 lives in the United States, five more in Puerto Rico and 24 more in other parts of the Caribbean, and caused more than seven billion dollars in damage in the U.S. alone.
And here's a dirty little secret the hurricanes don't want you to know about; hurricanes spawn tornadoes. I don't know about you, but looking at the death and destruction going on in the Midwest from recent tornadoes has definitely raised my fear factor a little.
During the next few months, you will be hearing and reading a lot about safety and hurricane awareness. We realize it gets old after a while, but by constantly reminding ourselves about the dangers of severe weather, we hope some of the information will become second nature and maybe, just maybe, save a few lives.
Now is the time to put your emergency plans in place. Have discussions with your family about where you will all go if a storm does indeed come and where you will meet if you get separated. If you are told to evacuate, leave. Keep at least a half a tank of gas in your car and fill it up if a storm is approaching; when the power goes out, the gas pumps don't work. Keep some cash on hand as ATMs will be useless. Stock up on basic supplies and medicines and keep them where they can be easily accessed and store your important papers and documents in a waterproof, fireproof box. If you have pets, remember, more than likely your pet will not be welcome at the area shelters so it is important to make arrangements ahead of the storm for them as well.
It's going to be a long hot summer and hurricane season doesn't end until November. A little planning now can ensure your family will be able to safely shelter in place or evacuate if the order is given.