Anniversary of Hurricane Hugo

[cycloneye]

On September 18th,1989,Hugo moved thru the NE corner of Puerto Rico causing extensive damage.It was the first hurricane to affect Puerto Rico after the last one 33 years back.Hugo made landfall in South Carolina on the 22nd.



http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_w ... elim01.gif

[Gustywind]

Humm awfull night passed on a small room without roof with the noise of the wind vrouuuuu, HUGO was monster in Guadeloupe, surely in our sad top ten !

[Frank2]

I'll always remember Hugo for one particular reason - I was still with the HRD at that time (after my NHC days), and, we almost lost one of the P-3's in that one, per the below from NOAA:

[Jim] DuGranrut wasn't on the P-3 that narrowly escaped disaster during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. "That's the kind of war story you like to talk about with your buddies when it's over, but is terrifying while you're in the midst of it," he said. That day, one of the P-3's four engines started spitting fire; the plane was caught in a tornadic updraft and spun about. Those aboard feared structural failure, with potential loss of a wing or other essential part. With the P-3's nose pointed downward and just 700 feet above the ocean, the pilot was able to regain control and pull the aircraft up intact to 1,000 feet. An Air Force Reserves C-130, which was also flying the storm, led the crippled craft back through the eyewall to safety. Despite the harrowing escape, the crew reported back to duty and carried on. The aircraft was thoroughly inspected and found to be structurally sound. The work may be dangerous, but NOAA has an impeccable safety record.

At least one HRD member ended participation in the research flights after that incident...

[CrazyC83]

I'll always remember Hugo for one particular reason - I was still with the HRD at that time (after my NHC days), and, we almost lost one of the P-3's in that one, per the below from NOAA:

[Jim] DuGranrut wasn't on the P-3 that narrowly escaped disaster during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. "That's the kind of war story you like to talk about with your buddies when it's over, but is terrifying while you're in the midst of it," he said. That day, one of the P-3's four engines started spitting fire; the plane was caught in a tornadic updraft and spun about. Those aboard feared structural failure, with potential loss of a wing or other essential part. With the P-3's nose pointed downward and just 700 feet above the ocean, the pilot was able to regain control and pull the aircraft up intact to 1,000 feet. An Air Force Reserves C-130, which was also flying the storm, led the crippled craft back through the eyewall to safety. Despite the harrowing escape, the crew reported back to duty and carried on. The aircraft was thoroughly inspected and found to be structurally sound. The work may be dangerous, but NOAA has an impeccable safety record.

At least one HRD member ended participation in the research flights after that incident...

They were flying at 925mb, correct? If that is the case they (the pilots) had to be doing something right in the eyewall to correct it, since the pressure at the time was 918mb and they'd be in the ocean if they remained at their original level. Nowadays, such a storm would be flown at the 700mb level.

[Frank2]

I don't recall, though from what I was told they ran into trouble during the inbound and had to circle inside the eye to dump enough fuel in order to exit at 10,000'...

It was a harrowing experience, to say the least, since one engine did quit and a second was not running well at all - had they lost the second engine they would have been in danger of not having enough stablility or altitude to make the outbound leg safely, since both problems were on the same side...

We didn't hear about it until the next day (before they left Antigua or Barbados), however, when they returned to Miami they were still a bit shaken...

Glad I wasn't on that flight - my only flight was in 1981, as a stand-in for someone else. Our flight sprung an oil leak in the number 2 or 3 engine (I can't recall), and, that was scary enough, since we were far at sea at 2 in the morning in tropical storm conditions...

Watching Flight 29 Down or Cast Away or Memphis Belle on the TV is one thing, but, to live it is another...

Frank

P.S. That is true - flying at 700 mb is safer, in the event of a problem, since flying at 1,500' is not an adequate margin of safety in the event of a temporary loss of control. From what we were told (as mentioned in the above article) they did lose control for a brief period, and, that's not good at all that close to the surface...

[Frank2]

One more thing about the NOAA flight - the scariest thing when we heard of what happened was the realization that about 1/3 of our staff was on that plane, and, had it been lost, we would have been in a terrible situation at the workplace, having lost so many, so, that did trouble us all for a period of time...

I think we were offered EAP counseling, but, being tough eggs and having John Wayne's jaw, we declined...

LOL

Frank

[Category 5]

One of the most horrific Hurricanes ever to strike this basin. The night Hugo hit the United States the costliest Hurricane in U.S history was Frederic at $2.3 Billion dollars. Hugo shattered that with $7.5 Billion dollars, which was insane at that time. Little did we know that record would last all of 35 months.

When the Hurricane Hunters were doing tours of that very P-3 in Cape May, I got a chance to talk to one of the men on that flight, and he said there were large items flying around the cabin, and those items wound up breaking several things in there. That must of been one hell of a flight, god bless that crew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lhj2QUFIyQ -- The famous video from Puerto Rico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OcNyz6lMaY -- TWC coverage

[CrazyC83]

It was this day 19 years ago that Hugo slammed into South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane.

(Officially listed at 120 kt, but it probably was stronger - 140 kt at 12,000 feet supports 130-135 kt)

[HUC]

Respect for HUGO,a wind of fire in my tiny isand................................