At midnight on September 21, 1989, Hurricane Hugo, a category four storm, blew into Charleston County. Winds in excess of 140 mph, a massive 20 foot storm surge, and extraordinarily high tides ravaged the area. Hugo cut a swath 50 miles wide and 200 miles long across South Carolina, and was one of the strongest storms to hit the East Coast since Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The storm’s 6 foot surge destroyed the town hall/police station located here, and severely damaged nearby Alhambra Hall. After the storm 1,000 truck loads of debris were removed per day at a cost of $4 million for the 2 month cleanup. The debris stockpile stretched almost 1 mile and was 30 feet in height. The depth of the storm surge at this marker was 5 feet.

Images

Map