The Impact Of Hurricane Hugo On Historic Places

Studies the effects of Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta Earthquake on historic buildings, including those in Charleston.

Despite a history of natural disasters, most preservationists in Charleston, South Carolina, discovered, as Hurricane Hugo approached, that they were without a cultural resource, disaster-preparedness plan. Each cultural organization in the city took basic protective measures prior to the storm's onslaught, but few were prepared for the magnitude of the outcome. Immediately afterward, preservationists organized an emergency stabilization task force at the request of the city. With a phone bank and a battery of volunteers, expert and amateur, a multilevel effort was commenced, consisting of architectural salvage, survey, technical information dissemination, contractor database, and recordation of damage. After months of recovery efforts, the final phase of recordation and survey led to the input of information and the development of a computer-automated graphics and database marriage program. The database has provided quick access to important information such as roofing and chimney failures and losses of building features. The Foundation's database offers the opportunity for future expansion. Its experience with Hugo has helped set forth new standards for damage recordation after a natural disaster.

This volume provides an account of the 1989 Hurricane Hugo for historical purposes, evaluates the physical phenomena involved and the performance of structures and systems, and identifies and recommends cases where an in-depth study would improve our ability to analyze and forecast such failures.

Hurricane Hugo, which made landfall on September 21, 1989, was the first serious storm to cross the South Carolina coast. This book contains papers on topics chosen to give a picture of the overall storm and its impact. It discusses about the size and severity of Hugo, as well as its effect on buildings, marinas, utilities, and other facilities.