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On Sept. 9, 1989, a cluster of thunderstorms blew west, off the coast of Africa, unnoticed by all but a few meteorologists.
Would this tropical wave fizzle, as most do? Or would it develop into a weather disturbance worth watching more closely?
Over the next 13 days, those wisps on the radar would evolve into one of the most powerful and deadly hurricanes of the 20th century. Its name was Hugo. And it would ultimately strike the Carolinas with unimaginable fury.
In all, Hugo killed 49 people as it churned through the Caribbean and onto the U.S. mainland. Fourteen of those deaths occurred in the Carolinas. Many others died in the aftermath and cleanup.
The storm stands as one of the worst natural disasters in either state. No less memorable was the remarkable resilience of the devastated communities that pulled together in the aftermath.
Over the next two weeks, we will mark the 20th anniversary of this extraordinary chapter of our history with stories, photos, graphics and readers' personal accounts of their own experiences with Hugo.
The special coverage begins today in the printed Observer on Page 2A. Watch that page daily for:
Reader accounts of the storm. We received more than 250 when we invited readers to submit their own remembrances of Hugo. They can be found on CharlotteObserver.com. Many will also be included in a special section in the printed Observer on Sept. 21.
A historical photo selected from the extensive collections of the Observer and its sister newspapers, The State in Columbia and The Sun News of Myrtle Beach. In all, we have selected more than 150 photos to appear in the printed newspaper and in slide shows at CharlotteObserver.com.
Answers to readers' questions about the storm, researched by our staff.
On Thursday, we launch a series that retraces the storm, day by day, through people whose lives were changed by it. Our writer is Elizabeth Leland, a gifted storyteller whose own experience with Hugo is distinctive.
Elizabeth stayed in Charlotte as the hurricane approached so she could be here to take feeds from our writers at the coast. She walked to work on Sept. 22 because her street was impassible from the downed trees. On Sept. 24, two days after the storm hit, Elizabeth drove to Charleston, her hometown, to witness the damage there. “That night, by candlelight in my father's home in Charleston, we listened as the first grim reports filtered in from McClellanville. The mayor, my cousin Rutledge Leland, pleaded over the radio for help for his village, isolated and forgotten as the nation's attention focused on Charleston.”
Elizabeth continued to cover the damage and recovery throughout the Carolinas, including the devastation and extended power outage in Charlotte. “I still get chills thinking about all my neighbors standing on their porches … reading the Observer,” she said, “the only way they could get their news.”
Elizabeth's compelling narrative concludes Sept. 20. In a related story, Bruce Henderson will report on the lessons our region learned from Hugo, as well as how prepared we are for the next wide-scale natural disaster.
Also for that day, Observer reporter Steve Lyttle and graphics artist Bill Pitzer have collaborated on a full-page map, plus a county-by-county breakdown of the damage that Hugo wrought.
Those same details unfolded as stunning news stories on our front pages in 1989. We've posted 10 of those front pages online as part of our Hugo package.
If you were here when Hugo passed through, those pages will remind you why you have a story of your own. If you weren't here, they will give you an idea why, 20 years later, others never tire of talking about it.
