Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

123 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature A lthough I didn’t realize it at the time, my longtime relationship with hurricanes started in 1969 when Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A Category 5 storm with 190 mph sustained winds, Camille was the most powerful hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States. All the destruction and death caused by this act of Mother Nature happened one day after I left Biloxi, Mississippi, where I was training with the U.S. Air Force. There was no Weather Channel, internet or sophisticated software to fully document Hurricane Camille back then, but advances were well underway by 1989 when Hurricane Hugo struck the coast of South Carolina. Founded in 1982, the Weather Channel took delight in visiting the historic city of Charleston and the surrounding islands. Viewers were able to instantly see the horrific results of this fierce hurricane that slammed into the coastline during high tide the night of Sept. 21. Hurricane Hugo’s high winds and pressure were quickly approaching the South Carolina shoreline while my art director and I were feverishly working to make the impending deadline for East Cooper Magazine, the predecessor of Mount Pleasant Magazine. Everyone around me was frantically preparing for what ended up being a Category 4 hurricane when it hit South Carolina. For me, my focus was getting the magazine completed and to our printer in Florida. The trouble was that with Hugo on the way, the last flight out of Charleston International Airport was already gone. I received a call from my wife, Kim, who knows firsthand (for 30 years now) how passionate I am about my craft. She knew I would do anything to get my magazine to the printer, even facing the wrath of Hurricane Hugo. I can remember her purposeful words: “You know Bill, the only way to get East Cooper Magazine to the printer is to drive to Columbia and get it on a BY BILL MACCHIO T H E S T O R Y O F A HURRICANE Chaser