Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): Late this week marks the 34-year anniversary of a hurricane that wrecked havoc from the Carolina coast to southern West Virginia.
Hurricane Hugo developed from a tropical wave that pushed off the African coast on September 9, 1989. Fast forward five days and Hugo was classified as a hurricane. It hustled to a top end Cat 5 the next day, September 15.
Its legacy was how fast it screamed into South Carolina, making landfall 34 years ago this Friday near Sullivan’s Island. It decimated the Myrtle Beach area because not only was it a Category 4 at landfall but the winds east of its center were magnified by its forward speed.
Thanks to a strong high pressure off the Northeast coast, Hugo was hellbent for Election.
By 11 a.m. the same morning, the center of storm was over Bluefield, VA!!! Bluefield, W.Va., and the Greenbrier Valley got hammered with 2.39 inches on the day Hugo moved through while Beckley just got a little over an inch.
Those of you living in the area probably were without power with gusts reaching 40 to 46 mph.
Hugo was swept up into a cold front that wasn’t playing around. It pushed through on September 23 and shredded the once Cat 5 to bit and pieces over Pennsylvania.
