Anniversary of Hugo

Today is the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo who roared into the South Carolina coast in 1989. We had just moved into our house in November 1988. We stayed during Hugo and it was a truly nerve wracked night. We had no idea that it would be such a dangerous storm. We knew that we were in for a long night when all the radio and TV stations went out. The rain poured through the ridge vent in the roof. The wind howled and there was all matter of debris hitting the house and roof. It was night so we couldn't see out (luckily). After a very long night, we finally saw the dawn and went outside to see every leaf stripped from the trees and debris everywhere. Luckily none of the trees were down but it was difficult to tell what was what. The smell of the damaged trees was strong. We had no electricity for 23 days which seemed like forever. We had a kindly neighbor who passed around a generator so that we could keep our freezer and regrigerator going. Finally, we were able to purchase a generator. It took us 3 days to get to Maybank Highway because we had to cut our way out. Nothing looked the same. The landscape was a mass of downed trees, limbs, and debris. I'm very thankful that we were spared a lot of damage. We never lost a shingle and no water came near our yard. We were indeed much more fortunate than our neighbors to the north of Charleston. There people lost their lives due to storm surge. Let's hope that we never see another major storm such as Hugo.

Today is also the autumnal equinox. Fall is definitely in the air. While not as celebrated as the vernal equinox, fall is definitely my favorite season. I'm looking forward to the cool mornings and the crisp days.