9.1 INTERVIEW WITH KATINA STRAUCH
So many of you have sent messages and called asking about Katina Strauch and Hurricane Hugo's impact on the Charleston Conference that I called this morning and interviewed her for the newsletter. I also asked about Bobbie Carlson at the Medical University of South Carolina. Katina didn't know anything about Bobbie, but she did know that the Medical University has power.
The conference is still on!! Meeting Street is fine; the Mills House is fine; the College of Charleston is fine. The old houses and build ings in the historical district survived the storm well; "they've been through it before." The greatest loss in Charleston was the live oaks. King Street is a mess. The TV pictures of National Guardsmen are from King Street, where all the glass front stores that weren't boarded up were destroyed. Katina says they really didn't want too many people coming to Charleston, and this was their way of controlling registration.
On last Thursday morning Katina left Charleston with (reported in this order): "both computers, both hard disks, all my floppies, a change of clothes, the kids, and Bruce." Before leaving they called their par ents and their literary agent (to tell him they were taking the hard disks). They went west of Columbia to a motel in Leesville, where they had rain and high winds, but only a 15-minute loss of power. It was scary looking at the news reports of the damage to Charleston.
When the family returned on Saturday they found that news reports were greatly exaggerated. Katina has strong thoughts about this. Because the eye of the hurricane crossed over Charleston, they got wind damage, not water damage. The areas to the north, including the barrier islands, were in the "bad quadrant" (that's my term, not Katina's!) and were hard hit by the water surge. Barrier islands to the south were hardly damaged at all. The storm also hit one and a half to two hours before high tide, which greatly lessened damage.
Katina's house lost one window pane. The palmetto tree and the dying live oak tree she thought would be in her dining room are still stand ing. Her telephone is one of three on The Citadel campus that work. They still have no power, but "Charleston is coming back to life." The Citadel is giving its staff free water, ice, and hot food. The Strauchs arrive at the mess hall at 9, 1, and 5 each day for meals. They, in turn, are helping The Citadel clean up. The National Guard is being housed at The Citadel, so there's no looting there. Katina says you can hardly sleep at night for the helicopters coming and going with personnel and supplies for Charleston residents.
Some of you know Katina's very old VW beetle. A car had hit it, and it was being repaired. They didn't go get it before leaving, thinking its loss (covered by insurance) might be a good thing. The garage had called Katina just before I spoke to her, saying the car is fixed and ready to be picked up. She hopes it still has its full tank of gas. Gasoline is at a premium right now, as the news reports have said.
At the College of Charleston, classes will resume Monday, with stu dents returning Sunday night. New construction suffered the greatest losses, especially roofing, but the older buildings came through just fine. The library lost two windows and one book! It still has no elec tricity. At the library only the main telephone number is working so far. Katina has authorized me to tell you her home phone number, so here it is: (803) 723-3536.
To summarize the situation, Katina says, "It's bad, but people are rising to the occasion and the conference is definitely on!"
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The NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES is published by the American Library Association's Association of Library Collections and Technical Services, Publisher/Vendor-Library Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Serials Pricing Issues. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, BITNET: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET; Faxon's DataLinx: TUTTLE; ALANET: ALA0348; Paper mail: Serials Department, C.B. #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3938. Committee members are: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Mary Elizabeth Clack (Harvard University), Jerry Curtis (Consultant), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Robert Houbeck (University of Michigan), and Marcia Tuttle.
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