Hurricane Hugo and Implications for Design Professionals and Code-Writing Authorities

Hurricane Hugo evolved off the west coast of Africa and crossed the Caribbean Sea making landfall in the U.S. on September 22, 1989 at Charleston, South Carolina. The paper reviews briefly the climatology of the storm, the ensuing damage and some lessons for the engineer and the building industry. The paper points out that present building codes and procedures followed by design architects and structural engineers are generally inadequate for construction in coastal zones.