21 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com 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 our coast. Every member of the Storm of the Century staff was a survivor. Each day and night we would spend hours and hours preparing Hugo stories of survival, paired with numerous photos of destruction for our documentary. As we sent my first-ever hurricane publication to the printer, the heaviness and anxiety Hugo had caused each of us was lifted off our shoulders. It was as if we had all gone through a Hurricane Hugo therapy session. It was an extraordinary feeling. It complemented the feeling I had knowing that this documentary we were publishing would be around long after I’d enjoyed my time on this planet. Parts of Charleston, Mount Pleasant and the islands that dot our Carolina shoreline were still a mess when our keepsake magazine hit the newsstand. Everyone wanted a copy. They treated it like their personal Hugo journal. The pictures of devastation and stories of survival were something they knew they would pass down to their children. The process of documenting Hugo and telling the stories of survivors and the popularity of our historic document encouraged me to take up hurricane chasing. And, over time, I became up close and personal with other hurricanes, as well as their survivors: Hurricane Bob, which hit Cape Cod and New England in August 1991; Hurricane Andrew, which battered South Florida in August 1992; Hurricane Bertha, which blasted Wilmington, North Carolina, in July 1996; Hurricane Fran, which also hit Wilmington in August 1996; and Hurricane Georges, which struck South Florida and Key West in September 1998. With Hurricane Andrew, which is a story for another time, I became close to Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. For several years, our little South Carolina company published the program for the Governor’s Hurricane Conference, the largest hurricane conference in the nation. Documenting Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Andrew were my most adventurous publishing undertakings and put every aspect of my craft to the test. I learned that even in the harshest of weather conditions and amid utmost destruction, communities still strive to pull together – and they still need to tell their stories. Even years after the storms, I continue to tell my readers about the hurricane stories and adventures in Mount Pleasant Magazine. our town The Ben Sawyer Bridge, which connects Mount Pleasant with Sullivan’s Island, was a victim of Hurricane Hugo. Hurricane Hugo left destruction in its wake in East Cooper and all along the South Carolina coast.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1