[51] Hugo's damage toll in Saint Kitts and Nevis amounted to $46 million,[57] largely sustained by shoreline structures and crops. [155] The economy of South Carolina continued to grow after Hugo, though some sectors did not benefit from recovery efforts. Hurricane Hugo was a Cape Verde hurricane that became a Category 5 (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) storm in the Atlantic, then raked the northeast Caribbean as a Category 4 storm before turning northwest between an upper-level high pressure system to the north and upper-level low pressure system to the south. [86], The eye of Hugo passed over Saint Croix at 06:00 UTC on September 18 (02:00 a.m. Hugo was the strongest storm to traverse the northeastern Caribbean since Hurricane David in 1979. [83] While Hugo's rainfall was not sufficient to cause major river flooding in North Carolina, minor flooding impacted mountainous areas north and east of Asheville and highways in seven counties. [101], Charleston County was at the epicenter of Hugo's devastation. [53] Winds in Martinique reached 60 mph (97 km/h) on the Caravelle peninsula. Floods there swamped homes and the downtown area of Roan Mountain. Winds gusting to 77 mph (124 km/h) was reported in Moncton. Hurricane Hugo made landfall in South Carolina on Sept. 22, 1989. "[38]:4A NASA delayed the September 22 launch of an Atlas-Centaur rocket with Hugo looming. [126] A nursing home in Boone, North Carolina, was evacuated following a flash flood. [83][86] Two hundred landslides occurred in Puerto Rico, with the largest of these transporting 40,000 m3 (1,400,000 cu ft) of debris into a river. [122] Three beach communities in Brunswick County, North Carolina, incurred a total of $55 million in damage;[124] with at least 25 beachfront homes battered by the storm;[2] another 100 structures were threatened by coastal erosion. [2] Across the Carolinas, Hugo's winds increased the quantity of downed brush, timber, and debris by up to 15 times their normal amounts, significantly increasing the risk of wildfires throughout the region. [46]:A1 Public schools were closed in Chatham County, Georgia, to allocate school buses for the evacuation of barrier islands. [17] Flight data showed that the plane likely encountered a mesovortex comparable to a weak tornado spanning a kilometer across. [105] Much of the South Carolina coast was subject to the ferocity of the hurricane's forces. Fallen trees and broken limbs caused scattered property damage throughout the state. [8] The maximum recorded storm surge was 20.2 ft (6.2 m) along Seewee Bay south of McClellanville. Although Irma’s path has not yet been clearly defined as to which parts of the country she will most strongly impact, some storm forecasters have expressed concerns that Irma’s path may lead her into the Western Carolinas. "[2], Parts of Southwest Virginia were also impacted by the core of strong winds associated with Hugo, which passed through the state as a tropical storm. [83][95] At Luquillo, the storm surge reached 8 ft (2.4 m), with waves atop the elevated waters reaching at least 10 ft (3.0 m). As more robust communication systems were destroyed by the storm, communications between the island and the outside world were primarily handled by amateur radio. [31] Crops on the island including banana and coffee sustained widespread losses. [52] The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dispatched a C-141 airlifter with government relief workers and communications equipment to Saint Croix. A destroyed communications antenna in El Yunque National Forest cut off communication to Vieques and Culebra. [58][81] This total was over three times higher than that inflicted by Hurricane Frederic, the previous costliest hurricane. [36], Hugo was the strongest storm to traverse the northeastern Caribbean since Hurricane David in 1979. There were 26 fatalities in the United States attributed directly to the weather conditions produced by Hugo; among the country's states and territories, South Carolina had the highest death toll with 13 direct fatalities. [50] Accurate forecasts from the NHC and the resulting narrow scope of evacuations allowed the evacuations to "[proceed] as smoothly as could be expected", and contraflow traffic patterns were not required for those departing Charleston via Interstate 26. [85] Floods impacted areas near Luqillo and low-lying portions of San Juan after water pumps lost power. A curfew in Guadeloupe mandating that streets be clear of pedestrians and vehicles came into effect at 6 p.m. AST on September 17. A hurricane watch was issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on September 15; this was superseded by a hurricane warning the following day that in turn was lifted on September 19. [9] Hugo spawned from a cluster of thunderstorms associated with a tropical wave first observed moving off the coast of Africa on September 9, 1989 (part of the same wave would later spawn Hurricane Raymond in the eastern Pacific). [8], Barbados served as a staging area for disaster response in the Caribbean due to its strategic position in the region and distance away from Hugo's forecast impacts. Charlotte took a hard hit from Hugo. [21]:4[54], Hugo was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time and one of its costliest disasters overall, with a damage toll of $8 billion estimated by the NHC. [78] All supply lines and the generator operated by Molec, Montserrat's electricity company, were incapacitated. This led to scattered and brief power outages that affected 30,000 electricity customers. [122] In southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina, the topography of the Appalachian Mountains led to a localized area of heavier rainfalls, resulting in 6 in (150 mm) rainfall totals. [8] The heaviest rain from Hugo in Puerto Rico occurred in the northeastern part of the island due to the hurricane's trajectory and orographic lifting induced by El Yunque. [8] Hurricane-force winds lasted for an unusually long time, battering the island from the late evening of September 17 to the morning of September 18. [106], Across North Carolina, Hugo damaged 2,638 structures and destroyed 205;[122] the damage toll was $1 billion. One person was killed after a wall collapsed upon him. Delays in traffic in the city led to an estimated 35 percent increase in vehicular operating costs in the months following the hurricane. [8], Between September 15 and September 22, aircraft from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) penetrated the eye of Hugo 76 times, documenting the location of the storm's center roughly once every two hours. Winds in Montreal gusted up to 59 mph (95 km/h), leaving 13,400 homes without electricity. [48]:3 Beaufort County, South Carolina, declared a state of emergency on September 20 and implemented voluntary evacuations. [28] Power and water distillation facilities operated by the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority west of the city were disabled by the storm. Winds even measured as high as 80 mph here in Charlotte, North Carolina.