From Florida to Carolinas, Residents Prepare for Storm

Hurricane Hugo churned rapidly over open water Wednesday, feinting and pivoting from time to time but aiming always toward the lower body of America’s Eastern Seaboard.

Late in the day, the National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane watch for an area that reached from St. Augustine, Fla., to Cape Hatteras, N.C. Landfall was projected for as early as tonight.

Hugo had been advancing slowly since battering a handful of Caribbean islands on Sunday and Monday, but it picked up speed and, by late Wednesday night, was 525 miles southeast of Savannah, Ga., moving northwest at 17 m.p.h. It had maximum sustained winds of 105 to 110 m.p.h.

‘Plenty of Damage’

“At that strength, it can do plenty of damage,” said Bob Sheets, head of the hurricane center. “We don’t want to trigger any premature concern, but people in the storm’s path need to take this very seriously.”

That they were. There are more than 600 miles of shoreline from the north of Florida through the Carolinas, and, in every county, civil defense officials were readying shelters and poring over evacuation plans.

Emergency supplies such as bottled water and batteries were vanishing from store shelves. Sally Davis’ husband got the last portable radio out of K mart in Charleston, S.C. “People are scared to death,” she said.

At Least 25 Dead

By now, they were all aware that Hugo is a killer. Across the Caribbean, there were at least 25 dead, more than 50,000 homeless and a dozen islands--including Puerto Rico--left as if stomped by some berserk giant.

“This Hugo is no little toy, that’s for sure,” said Bill Dorough, a civil defense worker in Jacksonville, Fla. “Hurricane Dora hit us back in ‘64, but there sure has been a lot built since then.

“No telling how things will stand up, all those high rises and condos. We’ve only got two bridges coming across from Jacksonville Beach, and, if we get a big one, we’d better evacuate before those bridges go under.”

Up and down the U.S. coast the anxieties are the same. Much of the shore is now dotted with hotels, condos and homes on stilts--all virtually untested by a storm of Hugo’s wallop.

Brenda Coffey works with emergency services in Wilmington, N.C. “We’ve got condos over on Ft. Fisher that have almost been demolished by high tides during a northeaster,” she said, “so they’d be in big trouble with a hurricane.

“These days, they build those condos right on the ocean. I don’t know. Take Wrightsville Beach. That place is below sea level. I don’t know.”

As Hugo advanced, it was becoming more and more real to mainland residents, like some bully stalking the neighborhood. The forecasters best guesses on Wednesday favored a landfall north of Savannah.

What to do? “We’re boarding up everything right now,” said Capt. Jack Flanagan, who has a fishing camp on Tybee Island, just off Savannah.

“We’re taking all the smaller boats out of the water . . . the big ones we’re going to take up the Savannah River and try to get them out of the way . . . .”

Worried About Cats

June Morrissey, of nearby Skidaway Island, is most concerned about leaving her cats behind. “I might just put them in the attic,” she said. “Everything else is insured. Can you insure your cats?”

Just to the north is Beaufort, S.C., a whole county of islands, 69 in all, including the mammoth hotels and resorts of Hilton Head. For years, hurricane watchers have said this place is the great sitting duck of the Atlantic.

Bud Boyne, at the county emergency center, disagreed--sort of.

“Yes, it’s true, we don’t know how strong the buildings are, but we can handle things. We’re just waiting on word that it’s heading close, and we’ll be in high gear. Everyone is on standby, and we’ll get people off the island with no muss and fuss.”

Farther up the South Carolina coast is Charleston, a beautiful city with historic homes in sight of the shore. “We just have to pray that it doesn’t hit us at high tide,” said resident Sally Davis.

Emergency Advice Given

Gene Brown, of the Charleston County planning department, said that his phones have been ringing nonstop. “We tell them the usual: Collect enough water for four days, get a radio with batteries, flashlights and canned goods.

“To be honest, the thought of all this is pretty scary. You know we’ve got a lot of barrier islands: Kiowah and Sullivan’s Island and Seabrook and Folly Beach and Isle of Palms. Yes, they’d be pretty vulnerable.”

North Carolina may be in for trouble, even if Hugo gives it only a glancing blow. The ground already is saturated from weekend rains that caused $10 million in flood damage and killed two children.

“I’ve got a map on my wall, and I plot (Hugo) every three hours,” said Ernest Carl, a state environmental official. “It’s heading right toward us.

“If I were to leave San Juan and plot a course to Wilmington, I’d take the same course Hugo’s on.”

Don Herman is in charge of emergency operations in mid-state Onslow County. He recalls that in 1954 mighty Hurricane Hazel simply washed over Swansboro “and there really hasn’t been another storm like it to test us.”

What to Do With Dog

“We’re deluged now with residents calling,” he said. “People can see the possibility, and they ask every crazy question: What do I do with my dog? What do I do with my cat?”

For all this Angst up through the Carolinas, there is an equal measure of comfort in Miami, a city that endures plenty without the curse of a great storm. A hurricane has not hit here since 1964.

For days, Hugo appeared to be making a dash for South Florida. “Good news!” proclaimed the smiling faces on the local news shows Wednesday night.

There was relief as well at the Kennedy Space Center, where NASA officials said there was no need to move the space shuttle Atlantis off its launching pad unless the storm suddenly shifted.

Hugo was someone else’s problem.

Staff writers Anna M. Virtue in Miami and Lee May and Edith Stanley in Atlanta contributed to this story.