Hurricane Hugo: 30th Anniversary

...2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Hurricane Hugo...

Summary

Thirty years ago around midnight on September 22, Hurricane Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston, South Carolina at Sullivan's Island as a Category 4 storm with estimated maximum winds near 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 934 millibars (27.58 inches of Hg). Hugo produced tremendous wind and storm surge damage along the coast and hurricane force wind gusts several hundred miles inland into western North Carolina. The highest storm tide heights ever recorded along the U.S. East Coast (~20 feet above MSL) occurred around Bull's Bay at Cape Romain! At the time, Hugo was the nation's costliest hurricane on record in terms of damages (~$7 billion). Unfortunately, 49 deaths were directly attributed to the storm, 26 of which occurred in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For additional information about the storm, check out our Hurricane Hugo Event Review.