Are the Carolinas ready for the next ‘Big One?’

CHARLOTTE — Since Hurricane Hugo’s landfall 35 years ago, the Carolinas have seen a handful of devastating hurricanes and tropical storms, yet we have not experienced another Category 4 storm.

Those who lived through its impact in Charlotte still remember how hard these major hurricanes can hit, even more than a hundred miles from the coast. Rob Thomas, who lived in Myers Park, said it took more than two weeks to get his power restored after the storm and months for all of the downed trees to be cleared from the neighborhood.

35 YEARS SINCE HURRICANE HUGO

“It was a helplessness feel,” he said. “How do you react to something like that?”

At Duke Energy, Jason Hollifield, the Carolinas’ Storm Director, works to prepare for that scenario.

Since Hugo, he said the utility has grown substantially. They hired far more personnel to their storm response team and built up reciprocal agreements with out-of-state crews to respond in emergencies. On top of that, advancements in technology make it easier to find and fix issues with the grid, communicate with customers and predict storms.

“We probably have almost as much computing power in one of our live trucks than we may have had at all of Duke Energy back when Hugo hit,” Hollifield said.

On the other hand, all the technology and planning in the world can’t overcome the biggest change the region’s seen since 1989.

“There’s just more customers to be impacted in an area,” Hollifield said.

In 1989, there were less than 500,000 people in Mecklenburg County. Now, there are nearly 1.2 million.

Closer to the coast, where the hurricane risk is higher, the Charleston area has seen a similar population boom.

“We’re looking at roughly a million people,” Ron Morales, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Charleston, said. “We have a growing population, but also a growing population of people that have never experienced a tropical system to begin with, never mind a major hurricane like Hugo.”

This year, the Charleston area was tested by Tropical Storm Debby. The system inundated the Charleston area with roughly 10-15 inches of rain, flooding much of the peninsula and low country. Preliminary damage estimates reach the billion-dollar disaster threshold.

Morales warns a major hurricane like Hugo would be far more devastating.

“It’s disturbing, really, for me, honestly, personally, because I know what would happen,” he said. “We are talking days, weeks, possibly months without power in some areas, many you know, very long periods of time where people would have no place to live.”

Charleston is working to prepare for the magnified flood risk that comes with wetter storms and rising sea levels, with plans that include better drainage, pumps and a proposed sea wall. But Morales said many parts of the low country aren’t getting that level of protection and investment. Those are the areas he believes would not survive another major storm and perhaps never should have been built in the first place.

“We need to stop building on the coast, the immediate coastline and in flood-prone areas and in marshes,” he said. “We need to protect those areas. We need to move back. We need to fortify the structures that we have within harm’s way as best we can.”

Back in Charlotte, the flood risk is less extreme but remains the costliest disaster threat to Mecklenburg County. Tim Trautman, the Storm Water Services director, said massive rain systems test our infrastructure often.

“After every storm event we go out and inspect and look at places where blockages and debris can accumulate,” he said.

Widening our creek beds and cutting down on impervious surfaces help slow the rush of water to our streams, but Trautman said the best way to prevent damage is to get property out of the flood plain and out of harm’s way through floodplain buyouts or by elevating properties.

“A lot of the reason and the why behind what we do is to keep people safe and have less pain and suffering and loss when the next Hugo or Francis or Florence come through the Charlotte Mecklenburg area,” he said.

Every storm is different, and Charlotte has only seen a Hugo once. For those who lived through it, like Thomas, that one instance was as good a reminder as any; safety is never something to take for granted.

“In Charlotte, we’re not really prepared for snow,” he said. “We are not prepared for anything of that magnitude.”

(WATCH BELOW: Channel 9 Video Vault: Suzanne Stevens -- Hurricane Hugo)