Hurricane Hugo was a destructive Category 5 hurricane that struck Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, South Carolina and North Carolina in September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season, killing 82 people and leaving 56,000 homeless.

Hugo developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on September 9th. The storm tracked westward, and became a tropical storm on the 11th, and a hurricane on the 13th. It reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane, and moved toward the United States. Hugo made landfall in South Carolina as a Category 4.

The storm caused $10 billion (1989 USD, $16.3 billion (2006 USD) in damages, making it the most damaging hurricane ever recorded up to that time, surpassing Hurricane Frederic. Hugo was itself surpassed by Hurricane Andrew three years later, which was eventually surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

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