Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

124 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature flight from there.” Those were the exact words I needed to hear. I packed up the family and the material for East Cooper Magazine and headed to Columbia before the rest of the Lowcountry’s population evacuated and clogged up the highways leading out of Charleston. It was the right call. Early the following morning, I sent my magazine to the printer, driving to the Columbia airport to place the material on one of the last flights out of the city. From there, we headed to Charlotte, as Hugo would do a few days later. I had no idea I would be facing the wrath of that violent storm, and that later my passion for publishing would lead me into the path of similar hurricanes. After Hugo ran us out of Charlotte, we headed to Chimney Rock. Soon after, we decided to return to Mount Pleasant. The reports of power outages and the devastation spawned by this massive hurricane caused internal anxiety for the whole family. As we edged closer to our home, the anxiety intensified, though I tried to keep it to a minimum. After all, we hadn’t seen for ourselves what had really happened in Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms or Sullivan’s Island. As a family, I knew we needed to keep as calm as possible because we didn’t know what was ahead of us. As we traveled closer to Charleston, Hugo’s destruction became more obvious with each mile. Like everyone around us, we were in a bit of a daze. Everyone’s world had been turned upside down overnight. Loud and clunky generators could be heard throughout East Cooper. For those of us lucky enough to have one, they were the only source of electricity. Fortunately, at the time, the office of East Cooper Magazine was on the same electrical grid as the old East Cooper Hospital, where Vibra Hospital of Charleston stands today. We had electricity, and my small, nondescript office became a hub of activity. It seemed like everyone in town passed through our doors at one time or another. We really didn’t know what to do. My family, as well as everyone else, was dealing with the essentials, but our little publishing office was attracting Hurricane Hugo storytellers. The two most common questions were, “Where were you when Hugo hit?” and “How bad did your home get hit?” We had all lived through a horrific storm and could tell our stories in vivid detail and in heartfelt dialogue. After all, we were all survivors of this massive storm that had invaded our South Carolina shoreline, taken 61 lives and caused damages of $9.47 billion in 1989 dollars. As time went on and the flow of photographers, writers, editors and friends continued through our doors, I had an epiphany. I couldn’t support anything through advertising because my clients were devastated. Everyone was dealing with surviving. Some were just packing up and heading out of town. Since it seemed everyone loved telling their stories – why couldn’t we tell the story of Hugo? Why couldn’t we publish a 100-page magazine titled Hurricane Hugo – Storm of the Century ? We spent weeks encouraging survivors to submit their stories and talking to newscasters, including Bill Walsh and Rob Fowler. We even interviewed Bob Sheets, head of the National Hurricane Center at the time. Sheets had gathered infrared satellite images of Hugo at different times, showing its massive strength as it smashed into... A Stand-Alone Memory Care Community. Come see what makes us different! Serving those with Alzheimer’s and other related conditions. We are a member of the JEA Senior Living family of assisted living communities. JEA is committed to being the leader in providing quality personal services for our residents while honoring the experience of aging. 843.216.1001 1025 Hungryneck Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 jeaseniorliving.com Call for a free tour! Read Entire Article Online at: www.HugoMagazine.com