September 21, 2014

Page 1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 | $1.50

25 years later

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

First Baptist Church’s steeple lies over a sidewalk after Category 4 Hurricane Hugo struck the tri-county area the morning of Sept. 22, 1989.

Memories remain vivid for Sumterites BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com

It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since the local landscape was devastated by Hurricane Hugo. Yet, talk to anyone who was here at this time in 1989, and you’ll hear stories recalled as if the storm happened a few weeks or months ago. On the morning of Sept. 21, 1989, Sumterites were preparing for Hurricane Hugo to hit

VISIT US ONLINE AT

the

.com

the S.C. coast. A sampling of stories on the front of The Item had the same theme: Preparation. Emergency responders, Shaw Air Force Base and Tuomey Hospital were on alert, state employees were prepared to be called into duty, school districts were expecting to close, grocery stores were emptied of nonperishables. But even with all the preparation,

hardly anyone really expected Hugo to hit us with such force; after all, we are 100 miles inland. As it turned out, Hugo was the 11th most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States and the most severe to hit S.C. in the 20th century. It’s said we remember most vividly our really good or really bad experiences. Standing out in the memories of many SEE MEMORIES, PAGE A3

DEATHS, B6 Kate E. Ermis Mary B. Woudwyk Erma V. Dwyer Peter R. Jacob Alvin O. Hancock Carl E. Brooks Nora Cook

Mary L. Jenkins Margaret P. Holmes Sammie Jiles Roy Welsh Stephen S. Davis Carolyn Y. Thomas

INSIDE Leading through the storm: Former mayor tested A3 Red Cross hopes you prepare for the next big one A4 Former civil defense director tracked storm by hand A5 Black River Electric labored long hours to restore power A6 Former law enforcement recall ‘war zone’ A7 Hugo’s wrath felt across area’s sports landscape B1 Throwback to the first day The Item published again D1

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

A NICE SUNDAY

5 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 290

Pleasantly warm with sunshine; clear to partly cloudy tonight HIGH 87, LOW 67

Classifieds D3 Comics E1 Lotteries A12 Opinion A10

Outdoors D8 Panorama C1 Television E3 Stocks D2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.