Historic Charleston Foundation
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Natural Disasters

How HCF Can Help You Prepare and Recover

In the days following Hurricane Hugo, Historic Charleston Foundation established an emergency recovery assistance center to offer technical assistance to owners of historic properties. In the event of another disaster, HCF will again provide technical assistance and answer questions about repairs to historic properties.

Based on circumstances, the HCF emergency recovery office will either be at its Missroon House headquarters, 40 East Bay St., 843-723-1623, or at The Shops of Historic Charleston, 108 Meeting St., 843-724-8484.

 

How HCF Responded to Hurricane Hugo and Lessons Learned

When Hurricane Hugo furiously struck Charleston, S.C., at midnight on Sept. 21, 1989, HCF staff and volunteers from around the country were among the first to respond with assessments of the damage to the historic structures downtown and in surrounding areas.  Within days of the storm, HCF had begun coordinating efforts to document the storm's effects and assist in emergency stabilization efforts.

Within two days, architectural conservator Brown Morton, Gary Stanton and six Mary Washington College preservation students drove to Charleston and began to assist in damage assessment.  They were soon joined by students from the applied history program at the University of South Carolina. The students came armed with sleeping bags and their own food and supplies. They stayed for almost two weeks helping HCF’s preservation staff develop damage assessments reports. HCF secured housing among local residents for more than70 people from other parts of the country who came to help with clean-up and documentation.

What made the response to Hugo different from other storms?  Concern for Charleston's historic architectural fabric and advance warning of Hugo's track helped mobilize volunteer efforts before the storm even made landfall. 

HCF’s Preservation Center and Shop at 108 Meeting Street was one of the first buildings to regain electricity after the storm (it is in the same power grid as the city's emergency center at City Hall). The Preservation Center became headquarters not only for HCF staff, but for collaborative efforts of the preservation community.  The center served as a clearing house for contractors who wanted to work and residents who needed qualified contractors.  Owners of historic properties could come to HCF staff who would assist them with locating appropriate replacement materials for historic houses, particularly matching roof slate.

Willie Graham of Colonial Williamsburg also soon joined the Mary Washington College team.  Jack Boucher of the National Park Service Historic American Building Survey also arrived to begin photographing damage.  One week later Bernie Herman, Gabrielle Lanier and David Ames of the University of Delaware joined the effort, and, as they returned home, Carter Hudgins of Mary Washington College brought a second team of six students from Mary Washington College to Charleston.Volunteers from Historic Beaufort Foundation and Historic Columbia Foundation also assisted.

Volunteers' primary task was to review systematically each building for observable external damage and to photograph the condition of the building both with color and black and white film.  National Historic Landmark structures received a more complete assessment including interior appraisements.  Owners of damaged properties received recommendations to stabilize and minimize continuing damage in public information forums. 

What was accomplished?  Traverses were completed through the neighborhoods of the historic district.  Perhaps 20% of the city below Calhoun Street was surveyed.  Not surprisingly, Charleston had not had a systematic survey of its historic properties since 1940 and lacked a comprehensive survey.  Though the number of surveyors necessary to complete an assessment in a timely fashion were beyond available resources at the time,  the visibility of the people who participated reassured residents and city officials that the community of architectural historians, including vernacular architecture specialists, were concerned about the fabric and people of Charleston. 

HCF then established the Historic Charleston Disaster Fund to accept funds for disaster relief, raising more than $200,000.  The Preservation Society of Charleston and The Charleston Museum assisted with this nationwide effort and processed and approved grant applications to pay for damage assessment and documentation as well as grants to entities such as the Second Presbyterian Church.  In addition to the jointly sponsored Disaster Fund, HCF also accepted donations to the HCF Monuments Fund, created at the suggestion of Richard H. Jenrette, to assist with the repair of architecturally and historically significant properties in the Lowcountry.