Disasters That Shaped Charleston

August 5th, 2008: Dr. Nic Butler, Special Collections Manager for the Charleston County Library, was asked to speak to our club on disasters that changed Charleston. But during his introduction, he said he had tweaked the topic just a little as the natural disasters that have affected this city numerous times over several centuries didn’t necessarily change the city, but more often, defined and shaped the resilience Charlestonians have shown time and time again.

As most native Charlestonians know, our city is in a place where hurricanes, tornadoes and even earthquakes are a possibility. Throughout its history, we’ve had many disasters strike our city. We’ve had numerous hurricanes, but 21 major hurricanes have had a significant impact on us. The first recorded storm and one of the most notable was the hurricane of August 1686. There were no papers back then so there are no photographs, but history tells us that the Spanish were on their way from St. Augustine to Charleston to reclaim it from the British. They went through Edisto and burned several plantations, kidnapped and killed the Governor ‘s brother and were closing in on Charleston when one of their 3 ships sank because of the approaching hurricane. The remaining two ships decided to turn around and go back to St. Augustine, thus saving Charleston. Many believe that storm prevented the area from being eradicated.
The Hurricane of 1686 illustrates how a storm may have saved us, but doesn’t speak to the resilience of the city and all those that inhabit it. Many disasters followed: There have been eight major fires including the fire of 1838 that burned 1,000 homes in Ansborough. There have been 4 earthquakes and several tornadoes that have caused the city major damage. However, whether we received help from the state of South Carolina, cities like Philadelphia lending us money or the city providing loans and work vouchers for its citizen, we prevailed and are a better city because of it.

There are lessons to learn from our past, and certainly things we still need to learn. Always be prepared, build a plan for the worst case scenario, establish relief networks to help in a crisis and most importantly, prepare for the inevitable. We are a coastal city on a fault line and odds are, we are vulnerable and will likely face a disaster again. When it does happen, we’ll do what we’ve always done, rise to the occasion and start again.

Reported by Darby Siegel, Keyway Committee