COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina emergency officials say the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo should remind residents that the devastation from the state's worst storm in the last century could happen again.
On September 21, 1989, the Category 4 hurricane roared across the Caribbean. It slammed into the South Carolina coast north of Charleston and punched through into Virginia. It killed 49 people.
Emergency Management Department and National Guard officials say the state's first responders are better prepared and equipped now, and it helps that weather predictions are vastly improved.
Officials say they have detailed hurricane response plans and practice evacuations regularly. Communications and support systems are more robust than 25 years ago.
But they warn the best plans won't work if residents don't heed evacuation orders.
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