Last Weekend to Experience “Powers of Nature” at State Museum

South Carolinians know first-hand about the powers of nature. It was 20 years ago this month that Hurricane Hugo slammed into the state.

And Hugo is one of the hurricanes featured in “Powers of Nature”, a special exhibit at the State Museum in Columbia that looks at the causes and effects of natural disasters. It has sections on hurricanes, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, earthquakes, blizzards and volcanoes.

It’s a national exhibit that has already traveled across the country, with South Carolina as its final stop.

State Museum Education Manager Chris Tilley says, “We’re talking about things that happen all over the country every year. There were over 3,600 earthquakes in the United States in 2008. South Carolina is 24th in the nation as far as tornado-related deaths. I mean there are a lot of really interesting facts and figures that happen that I think people would really like to know about.“ 

The largest earthquake ever to hit the southeastern U.S. happened in Charleston in 1886, and the exhibit has pictures of some of the damage it caused.

Ellen Jones and her mother Carolyn visited the exhibit Friday afternoon. Ellen says she thinks it’s important for people to know about weather and what it can do.

“It’s been a great exhibit,“ she says. “I’ve learned a lot from reading everything. Some of it I remember from a meteorology class I took in college and some of it’s new information. So I think it’s been a great afternoon.“ 

For more information, you can to the State Museum’s website.