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Hurricane Hazel: Transforming the Grand Strand 1954-2004

October 14 – December 29, 2004

Opening Thursday, October 14, 2004

6:30 - 8:00 p.m

October 14, 1954 lives in the memories of many Grand Strand residents and South Carolinians as a day that changed their world. Hurricane Hazel struck with a vengeance and wreaked havoc unlike any before. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event, the Chapin Foundation, the Chapin Memorial Library and the Art Museum are collaborating to create a multi-media exhibition based on personal memories, documented research and other materials provided by the public.

Hazel was born in the Caribbean Sea and quickly became a deadly hurricane, packing up to 130-mile-per-hour winds by the time she broadsided the Horry County coast of South Carolina on the morning of October 15, 1954. She killed more than 1,200 people in the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada, before she finally died over Canada’s Hudson Bay. Miraculously, South Carolina only experienced one death, although property damage was extensive all along the Grand Strand. Almost every pier and beachfront building from Pawleys Island to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, was destroyed.

The exhibit will demonstrate not only the impact of the storm on the Grand Strand, but also the strength of the Grand Strand community in surviving and rebuilding after the Category 4 hurricane.