Hurricane Hugo hit 24 years ago.
Hurricane Hugo ate SC.
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. Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston, South Carolina at Sullivan's Island around midnight September 22, 1989 as a Category 4 storm with estimated maximum sustained winds of 135-140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 934 mb (27.58 inches of Hg). Hugo produced tremendous wind and storm surge damage along the coast and even produced hurricane force wind gusts all the way into western North Carolina. In fact, Hugo produced the highest storm tide heights ever recorded along the U.S. East Coast.
Rainfall
Most buildings in downtown Charleston sustained significant damage, but the worst destruction occurred in beach towns north of Charleston such as Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms where the majority of homes were rendered uninhabitable due to the fact that this area received the strongest winds and highest storm surge. Many old trees were toppled by Hugo's winds, including those at Drayton Hall in West Ashley (image 1 / image 2 - images courtesy of Drayton Hall). Logging operations in the Francis Marion National Forest were permanently ended due to the storm felling more than 1 billion board-feet of lumber (approximately 70% of lumber-quality trees).
Fortunately, Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston as a track slightly farther south along the coast would have produced tremendous flooding in downtown Charleston. In addition, the relatively fast motion of Hugo diminished the amount of erosion along the coast.
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/chs/events/hugo.shtml
FEMA AND THE AFTERMATH
Senator Fritz Hollings was apoplectic about FEMA:
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"I called FEMA and said, 'We've got to have assistance down here immediately," recalled Hollings, now retired. "(Acting director Robert) Morris said they had to advertise in local newspapers for two weeks, and then state newspapers before they could deliver supplies. I said, 'Are you serious? We need help.' "
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It was seven days after Hurricane Hugo plowed through South Carolina before FEMA opened its first disaster center in the state. It was a bureaucratic mistake the agency would pay dearly for making. Hollings lit a fire under the federal government, calling FEMA officials "a bunch of bureaucratic jackasses." On the Senate floor.
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Hollings had used his clout to help the state before the storm even hit, calling on his old friend Colin Powell to send in Marines to help keep order, stop looting and help folks dig out of the mess -- despite the assurances from some state officials that the National Guard could handle it all.
Even the Marines became embroiled in the FEMA mess. The agency said it would not pay for chain saws used to cut away fallen trees because the Marines did not keep a log of each saw's serial number along with the particulars of where and when they were used.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley was another critic of FEMA's slow response, and has often told the story of the response he got when he turned to a FEMA official to ask for advice. "You need to make sure you're accounting for all of your expenses," the bureaucrat replied.
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http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20090921/PC1602/309219933
Clinton put James Lee Witt in charge and FEMA began to run better. Under Bush, it was folded into DHS and we know how well that worked.
I know there are still some people who would give FEMA a piece of their minds if they ever had to come back. It was that bad.
= new reply since forum marked as read
...it wasn't as bad as those storms. 
Not even a tropical storm . Fingers crossed it will stay like this. 
Kind of strange though ..
