Hurricanes in the Lowcountry

Although Hurricane Hugo was one of the worst storms to ever hit the South Carolina coast in terms of winds and property loss, it was far from the worst in terms of lives lost. Just two decades after the colony was founded, a hurricane struck on Sept. 3, 1700. No lives ashore were lost, but the ship, “The Rising Sun,” was wrecked, killing all aboard.   

​

In a Charleston Museum publication, “The Scourging Wrath of God: Early Hurricanes in Charleston 1700-1804,” author Jean A. Calhoun quotes the account of Edward Hyme, “a newly arrived immigrant” writing to his wife back in England: “... she foundered at anchor, ye Captain (Gibson) & all ye souls on-board (being about 100) miserably perishing ... they say she was worth 50,000, having a great deal of gold, silver and rich goods onboard besides ye batterie-guns used in ye fortifications at Darien.”   

The only survivors of that ship-wreck were a renowned Scottish minister, Archibald Stobo, his wife and the crew of his small rowboat. They had come ashore for Stobo to preach a Sunday service at the request of the congregation of the White Meeting House. When their request saved the lives of Stobo and crew, the congregation considered it a divine sign and asked Stobo to stay as their pastor.     

Hyme adds that most of the town might have been washed away if the winds had not shifted about two hours before high tide. Even with the change a couple of houses on the peninsula were washed down river and boats were strewn over high ground.   

The colony was plagued with storms of varying magnitudes throughout its history. One of the most devastating occurred in 1752. No official death toll appears to exist, although one ship’s account lists 95 drowned. The pest house (a residence for people in quarantine) on Sullivan’s Island floated away with 15 people inside. Nine drowned. The others climbed onto the roof and were carried several miles. Tree damage was widespread. On one plantation the loss was estimated at $50,000.   

On Sept. 7, 1804, a tremendous storm struck. According to meteorologist John Purvis, writing in “South Carolina Hurricanes,” this storm approached from Nassau then followed the eastern coast from Charleston all the way to Boston. In South Carolina, 500 people died.  

​

 The element of surprise was one cause for the great number of lives lost. Earlier this century, hurricanes were still taking the port city by surprise. Lacking today’s technology, locals were given little or no warning. Until the last day, reports of the 1911 hurricane stated that the storm would miss Charleston. As one resident put it, “the hurricane apparently didn’t read the paper that day.”  

It was the 1911 hurricane that spelled the final doom of the rice industry in the Lowcountry. Earthen dikes throughout the remaining rice plantations were destroyed by the high winds and water. With slave labor no longer an alternative, the cost of repair was too high. Reports from the Charleston Museum record the last rice crops harvested in the mid- to late 1920s. One of the most difficult effects of Hurricane Hugo was backed up sewer lines. Yet, earlier hurricanes blew away out-houses. Back then there were no radar systems to warn of the approach of storms, no minute-by-minute broadcasts of changes in the hurricane’s path and no cars to drive away in quickly if evacuation became necessary.   

After the storms passed, there were no telephones with which to contact people in outlying areas or radios to deliver the news. Trees blocking roadways might stay there for months with only axes and brute force to clear them.

Hurricane Hugo was devastating, but it could have been much worse.