‘Elated to be alive’: How Hilton Head siblings survived Category 5 Hurricane Irma
A brother and sister, both reared on Hilton Head Island, had an inkling of what to expect as Hurricane Irma barreled toward their homes on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands this month.
Catherine Wilson, oddly enough, was struggling to get back to the island. Walter Wilson was trying to find a way to get himself and girlfriend Judi Underberg off the island. Catherine got back, but Walter could not get out.
They lived through the harrowing Category 5 storm in two separate hotels, crouching in bathtubs beneath mattresses as the wind roared like trains with a high-pitched whistle, and Walter Wilson’s ears were constantly popping.
“As a parent, I think the greatest fear is perhaps when your child’s safety is in question — and for me it was terrifying to know my only two children were in the path of such potential devastation at the exact same moment,” said their mother on Hilton Head, June Wilson Cunningham Schimpf.
“The relief I felt when I heard their voices after Irma passed is hard to describe.”
Those left on the St. Thomas rubble did not yet know the island would be hit again in a few days by Category 5 Hurricane Maria.
Catherine’s home in a rain forest was a total mess after Irma, a tree over the car and the rain forest gone. Walter and Judi lost their livelihoods in the resort industry and were able to get out nine days later with one suitcase each aboard the Norwegian Sky cruise ship to Miami. They’re in Charleston now, where they used to live, and where he’s able to get construction work.
“Thank God for friends and family,” he said this week.
‘War zone’
For a while, you run on adrenaline.
Then it all crashes into a harsh reality.
“It’s like a little war zone,” Walter said.
Sirens wail and FEMA choppers buzz over a landscape where cars line up for miles at the only two gas stations with fuel, and people stand in sweltering heat for three hours to see what’s on stripped grocery shelves.
Hard or impossible to find are ice, auto parts, chainsaws, generators, plywood, tarps, bread and pet food.
Communication is largely word-of-mouth. It’s hard to know what’s true. Phone connections are spotty at best.
There’s a strong presence of police and the National Guard, Walter said, but looters were well-prepared for the hurricane and lunged into action immediately. Curfews keep people off the streets except for noon to 6 p.m., but a sense of security was snuffed out like all the lights.
The storm lasted several hours, in mid-afternoon.
They could hear projectiles flying through the air, gutters slamming against concrete walls, trees and power poles snapping, and explosions of power transformers. Rain blew sideways through metal window louvers. Leaves were glued to walls.
“It’s the closest I’ve felt to death,” Catherine said. “I was holding onto my dog and breathing deeply.”
Walter said, “Going through it, there’s so much adrenaline, literally not knowing if you are going to survive.”
When it passed, “everyone was just elated to be alive,” Catherine said.
Days later, when emotional and physical exhaustion settled in, she said, “We’re trying to stay strong for our co-workers, our family, our friends.”
‘It’s home’
Catherine and Walter’s parents moved to Hilton Head in 1979.
They were Sea Pines Montessori Academy students who graduated from Hilton Head Island High School on their way to the big, wide world.
Catherine was a 1996 Heritage Classic Scholar, one of the highest honors in our community, and she’s looking forward to joining other scholars at the 50th edition of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing next April.
Walter graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in political science, and Catherine graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after also receiving a Naval scholarship.
She saw the world with the U.S. Navy, kept earning degrees, and for six years has lived on St. Thomas, where she is an operations engineer for the desalination plant.
That’s a big reason she wanted to be there before the hurricane. She knew the people would need the plant. And she knew it could be weeks before she could return following a hurricane.
“We were working hard in an assembly line changing out nasty filters at the water plant (Monday) morning and my co-worker commented it was like CrossFit,” Catherine said via text message. “I said we are in hurricane shape between the diet and the exercise. He said we may look a lot better, but we sure smell a lot worse.”
Walter said he is anxious to get back to help rebuild and get personal belongings.
“It’s home,” he said.
Catherine calls her home Shangri-La, and she rents some outbuildings to short-term vacationers.
“I have a propane stove so have been able to cook,” she texted. “I had a ton of canned foods, pasta, rice. I have some avocado trees and I had picked about 20 before Irma, which I’ve since eaten. Going to plant all the pits and replace more trees than I lost. Also planting coconuts I’ve found on the ground.”
The hurricane also has brought silver linings.
“Estranged relationships are rebuilt; meeting neighbors you didn’t even know were there (trees gone now and I can see 42 houses .... used to see one other house).
“I hope a silver lining will be some policy changes toward cleaner energy and more sustainable livelihoods. I have an amazing ocean view now. The destroyed parts of my house were the weakest; they will be rebuilt stronger and better now.”
David Lauderdale: 843-706-8115, @ThatsLauderdale
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This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 12:56 PM with the headline "‘Elated to be alive’: How Hilton Head siblings survived Category 5 Hurricane Irma."