Is Charlotte More Prepared For Disaster Of Hugo Proportions?

News video is a little grainy after 20 years, but for those who were in Charlotte on Sept. 22, 1989, the memories of Hurricane Hugo are still crystal clear.

“The wind was so bad that the tree tops were bending down to the ground. It was really awful,” said Charlotte resident Dot Kirby.

Kirby had moved into her home off Back Creek Church Road because of the trees, but when Hugo fooled everyone and roared 200 miles inland, those trees were no match for winds near 90 mph.

“That's a limb up here that was torn up by Hugo. That one tree twisted the top out,” she said.

For Charlotte, Hugo was the disaster that wouldn't go away. Seventy-five percent of homes had no electricity, and many didn't get it back for almost two weeks. Thank you for participating. Do you think Charlotte is better prepared to handle a disaster of Hurricane Hugo proportions? Do you think Charlotte is better prepared to handle a disaster of Hurricane Hugo proportions? Yes, more prepared About the same level of preparedness No, less prepared

“We had never seen so many poles down, wires down, trees across lines,” said Roger Anderson of Duke Energy.

Anderson, who's still working for Duke Energy, said most new neighborhoods have underground power lines, which speeds up repair time.

Overhead lines are still a challenge. What has improved, though, is the ability to answer customers' No. 1 question: when will the power be back on?

“We use the Internet. We're even using Twitter and Facebook. We're trying to use the latest technology,” Anderson said.

Mecklenburg County has made changes, too, to its massive disaster plan.

“We've got more training, more personnel,” said Mecklenburg County Emergency Management Director Wayne Broome.

Broome said coordination between emergency management, police, firefighters and even local businesses and charities has Charlotte more ready to help.

But a Hugo- like storm now could bring problems that didn't exist then.

The cell phone towers that so many of us now rely on could be vulnerable to hurricane-force winds.

“Given the number of cell phone towers that may go down as the result of that, given the volume that would increase as a result of that, I would say you may not lose it totally -- but the service would be an extremely erratic situation,” Broome said.

In many ways, Charlotte isn't the same place it was in 1989. But Hugo also reminds many who were in the Queen City how people pulled together in disaster, emptying their freezers and opening their doors.

“We went through hard times. It brought us closer together as a community and people,” Kirby said.

That's something Kirby hopes won't change, no matter how many years go by.

Check out our special section for a look back at Hurricane Hugo.