Hurricane Hugo, a Category 4 storm, made landfall slightly north of the entrance to Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in September 1989. The storm tide, based on high water marks, peaked in excess of 20 ft, which is second only to the 22.4-ft. storm tide caused by Hurricane Camille (1969) at Pass Christian, Mississippi.

The development along the impacted area of South Carolina had taken place over several decades under generally inadequate structural and setback controls. Moreover, the erosion rates on some portions of the South Carolina shoreline are moderately high, causing older structures to be near the shoreline.

Although no structures built to modern standards suffered major damage, Hurricane Hugo destroyed or caused severe damage to in excess of 15,000 structures. Of these, about 150 were considered to be unbuildable under the management policies in place at the time. (Shore & Beach, 58, 4, 1990, has a number of articles about Hugo's effects.) There has been considerable litigation over whether and under what conditions these structures should be rebuilt. The total damages caused by Hugo exceeded $4.0 billion.

With most of the U.S. shoreline heavily developed, the preceding scenario will recur, and it is important that national and local management policies be in place to regulate construction near the shoreline and reconstruction following storms so that future disaster liabilities and personal hardships will be minimized.

INTRODUCTION

The current pressure for development along much of the nation's shoreline, coupled with the prognosis for increased rates of sea level rise (Chapter 3) and the possibility of increased storminess due to the Greenhouse effect, have raised questions about the most appropriate policies for coastal zone management.