Two Weeks After Hurricane, Charleston Is Confident of Full Recovery

Two weeks after the fury of Hurricane Hugo, only six out of 10 residents have power, the county’s 70 schools remain closed and more than 20,000 people still are homeless.

But city fathers, who had stressed the city’s needs in appeals for aid and in criticism of federal relief efforts, on Wednesday sought to project an upbeat attitude and professed optimism about a full recovery.

“This gallant city has withstood the century’s greatest storm. The bells of St. Michael’s Church, known by tourists around the world, are ringing again,” said Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., who was seen wearing a T-shirt saying “Charleston/We Are Going Strong.”

‘Season for Celebration’

“Clean up efforts have been dramatic,” said Bill Stottlemeyer, an official at the Chamber of Commerce. “This fall is going to be a season for celebration and Thanksgiving. We’re fighting a national perception that Charleston has been destroyed.”

There was some evidence that their new attitude was not simple boosterism.

Food distribution points operated by the Salvation Army were cut back Wednesday from seven to two as food reached the saturation point, said Army spokesman John Edwards, who added that he expects food distribution to end this weekend.

In addition, Riley said he may relax or cancel the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew imposed immediately after the hurricane hit. The city’s streets are passable. Tree limbs and other debris are being pushed back over the curbs, waiting for trucks to haul them away.

But there are many signs that Charleston still has much to overcome.

Shards of glass from broken window panes still litter many downtown sidewalks.

More than 3,000 power company and telephone repairmen remain in the field, working 17 hours a day.

“We have to keep going to get the power on,” said lineman Charles Grady, who looked exhausted. “If everyone left, there wouldn’t be anyone to do it.”

The most severe problems remain in rural areas where utility lines often are pinned down by fallen trees, Grady said.

The Red Cross issued an appeal for more nurses to volunteer to relieve Red Cross nurses who have been on duty since the storm.

And homelessness remains a major problem. Although many temporary shelters have closed, at least eight remain open under sponsorship of the Red Cross and county officials, mostly in schools and churches.

Other people who fled the destruction of Hugo are living with friends or relatives, or have jammed dozens of hotels and motels in and around Charleston.

The Salvation Army urged continued contributions of money to pay for utility bills, temporary housing and medical services for victims.

Riley, while promising that Charleston will be beautiful again and ready for visitors by late October, said federal, state and local authorities would continue to focus on the homeless.

“A disaster always injures disproportionately those who are least well off,” he told reporters.

With donations of food, clothing and building supplies arriving from as far away as the West Coast, the mayor minimized some delays in distribution that have occurred, calling them temporary “glitches.”

“We’ve created a supply system literally overnight, with 50 trucks moving in and out every day,” he said. “The logistical problems we have solved are phenomenal.”

“There’s been so much suffering,” said Denise Moore, a pharmacy manager. “But everyone has pitched in to help and we’re going to make a comeback.”

Tom Blazer, chairman of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, said tourists must realize that “90% of the area’s hotels and restaurants and many of its businesses already are operating as before.”

None of Charleston’s historic homes were destroyed, although some lost parts of their roofs, had windows blown out and suffered water damage. Guided tours of many historic buildings will resume in two weeks, Blazer said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Virgin Islands delegate to Congress denounced what he called sensational reports of looting that took place after the hurricane severely damaged St. Croix, one of the hardest hit of the Caribbean islands.

At a briefing mainly for travel writers to promote tourism, Ron de Lugo told reporters “we’ve taken a hell of a beating from other segments of the press.”

“This was not portrayed as looting. It was portrayed as rioting. There was no rioting, there were no attacks on white communities. Let me tell you you’re a lot safer in St. Croix on any night, including the days after Hugo, than you are in the nation’s capital or in a lot of our major cities.”