CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- It's an anniversary that many folks in the Carolinas would just as soon forget.

Twenty-one years ago Tuesday, Category 4 Hurricane Hugo smashed into the South Carolina coast with its 135 mph winds, bringing a path of destruction all the way into central North Carolina.

The 1989 storm swept away houses on South Carolina sea islands, tossed boats into piles like they were toys and then stormed inland. Hugo was still a Category 1 hurricane when it passed just west of Charlotte, N.C.

Hugo caused $6 billion in damage, mostly in the Carolinas, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm killed 49 people including 13 in South Carolina and one in North Carolina.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Don't forget to check last year's special looking back at Hugo, then 20 years later.  Watch the full program here. 

For the latest on this year's hurricane season, check out our Tropics WACH page.