Great Hurricane of 1780
Areas affected by the hurricane (excluding Bermuda) | |
Formed | October 9, 1780 |
---|---|
Dissipated | October 20, 1780 |
Highest winds | Gusts: 200 mph (320 km/h) |
Fatalities | 20,000+ total (Deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record) |
Areas affected | Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Bermuda, possibly East Florida and some U. S. states |
Part of the 1780 Atlantic hurricane season |
The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster,[1][2] is probably the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 20,000 and 22,000 people died when the storm passed through the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean starting on October 10 and ending on October 16.[3] Specifics on the hurricane's track and strength are unknown since the official Atlantic hurricane database only goes back to 1851.[4]
The hurricane struck Barbados with winds possibly exceeding 320 km/h (200 mph), before moving past Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Sint Eustatius; thousands of deaths were reported on the islands. Coming in the midst of the American Revolution, the storm caused heavy losses to British and French fleets contesting for control of the area. The hurricane later passed near Puerto Rico and over the eastern portion of Hispaniola (then Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic). There, it caused heavy damage near the coastlines. It ultimately turned to the northeast before being last observed on October 20 southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.
The death toll from the Great Hurricane alone exceeds that of any other entire decade of Atlantic hurricanes, and is marginally higher than that of the second-deadliest Atlantic storm, Hurricane Mitch, although the figures for its death toll are estimates and Mitch numbers are probably much more accurate. The hurricane was part of the disastrous 1780 Atlantic hurricane season, with two other deadly storms occurring in the month of October.[3]
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[edit] Meteorological history
The exact origin of the hurricane is unknown but it probably developed, as do many hurricanes, in the east Atlantic Ocean off the Cape Verde Islands in early October. The system strengthened and expanded as it tracked slowly westward and first began affecting Barbados late on 9 October. Late on 10 October, the worst of the hurricane passed over the island. Early on October 11, the hurricane turned north-northwest about 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Saint Lucia, and later that night it neared the island of Martinique. The cyclone gradually weakened as it passed to the southwest of Dominica early on 12 October and subsequently struck the island of Guadeloupe.[2]
After hitting Guadeloupe, the hurricane turned west-northwest, passing about 145 kilometres (90 mi) southwest of Saint Kitts. The hurricane steadily neared Puerto Rico as it paralleled the southern coastline, and on 14 October made its closest point of approach, to the southwest portion of the island. It subsequently turned to the northwest, hitting the island of Mona in the Mona Passage before making landfall near the present-day Dominican Republic province of Samaná. Late on 15 October, it reached the Atlantic Ocean and after passing about 260 kilometres (160 mi) east of Grand Turk Island, it is estimated to have recurved to the northeast. The hurricane passed 240 kilometres (150 mi) southeast of Bermuda on 18 October,[2] and was last observed two days later about 475 kilometres (295 mi) southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.[5]
On 19 October, strong winds and high tides were reported in the British province of East Florida (the northeastern portion of present-day Florida). One modern historian suggests the hurricane passed much closer to the province than previously thought. Another possibility considered was an extension to a hurricane in the western Caribbean Sea. Because of lack of data, the exact track of the Great Hurricane is unknown.[6]
[edit] Impact
The Great Hurricane first began affecting Barbados with rain late on 9 October. Northwesterly winds increased through the day on 10 October. The ships in the bay broke their moorings by 4 pm, and the "full impact" arrived by 6 pm. The wind gradually backed to westerly through the night and peaked at midnight. Wind speed returned to normal by 8 am on 11 October. [2] These winds suggest that the eye of the storm passed north of Barbados. The hurricane produced violent winds "so deafening that people could not hear their own voices." The hurricane stripped the bark off trees and left none standing on the island.[2] Even the strongest hurricanes do not strip the bark off trees, and Cuban meteorologist José Carlos Millás estimates that this phenomenon would require rain and winds over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h).[7] The winds also destroyed every house on Barbados. The hurricane also destroyed all forts on the island.[2] According to British admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, the winds carried their heavy cannons aloft 100 feet (30 m). About 4,500 people died on Barbados.[7]
In Saint Vincent, the hurricane destroyed 584 of the 600 houses in Kingstown. At Grenada, 19 Dutch ships were wrecked. On Saint Lucia, rough waves and a strong storm tide destroyed the fleet of British Admiral Rodney at Port Castries, with one ship destroying the city's hospital by being lifted on top of it. The hurricane destroyed all but two houses at Port Castries, and throughout the island about 6,000 perished.[2]
A fleet of 40 French ships involved in the American Revolutionary War capsized as a result of the hurricane off Martinique; about 4,000 soldiers drowned. The hurricane produced a 25-foot (7.6 m) storm surge on Martinique, destroying all houses in Saint-Pierre; 9,000 died on the island. High winds, rains, and storm surge caused severe damage at Roseau, Dominica. A storm surge also struck the south coast of Guadeloupe and caused considerable damage. Strong winds affected Antigua and Saint Kitts, and in the latter island, many ships were washed ashore. A Dutch sea-officer whose ship was blown from St. Eustatius to Martinique by the hurricane reports on the damage in Saint-Pierre (Martinique), St. Vincent and St. Lucia. On his return to St. Eustatius he reports that here "too some houses are destroyed" and the sea water ruined the merchandise that was left on the beach. However, he says that the situation was not as bad as on the French and English islands and does not speak of any dramatic death toll (Jong, C. de. Reize naar de Caribische Eilanden, 1807. p. 140).
Heavy damage was reported in southern Puerto Rico, primarily in Cabo Rojo and Lajas. Severe damage also occurred in the eastern region of Santo Domingo. The hurricane later grounded 50 ships near Bermuda. Throughout its path, the hurricane killed over 20,000 people, possibly as high as 24,000, making it the deadliest hurricane in Atlantic hurricane history.[2][3]
[edit] Fatality total
Rank | Hurricane | Season | Fatalities |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Great Hurricane" | 1780 | 22,000 |
2 | Mitch | 1998 | 19,325+ |
3 | "Galveston" | 1900 | 8,000 – 12,000 |
4 | Fifi | 1974 | 8,000 – 10,000 |
5 | "Dominican Republic" | 1930 | 2,000 – 8,000 |
6 | Flora | 1963 | 7,186 – 8,000 |
7 | "Pointe-à-Pitre" | 1776 | 6,000+ |
8 | "Newfoundland" | 1775 | 4,000 – 4,163 |
9 | "Okeechobee" | 1928 | 4,075+ |
10 | "Monterrey" | 1909 | 4,000 |
See also: List of deadliest Atlantic hurricanes |
Throughout its path, the hurricane killed about 23,200 people. The Great Hurricane likely ranks as the deadliest hurricane in Atlantic hurricane history.[2][3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Mújica-Baker, Frank. "Huracanes y Tormentas que han afectado a Puerto Rico". Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Agencia Estatal para el manejo de Emergencias y Administracion de Desastres. pp. 11. http://www.gobierno.pr/NR/rdonlyres/49EA64D0-305B-4881-8B85-04B518004BD5/0/Ciclones_en_PR.pdf. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Orlando Pérez (1970). "Notes on the Tropical Cyclones of Puerto Rico". San Juan, Puerto Rico National Weather Service. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/perez_11_20.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ a b c d Edward N. Rappaport, Jose Fernandez-Partagas, and Jack Beven (1997). "The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996". NOAA. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadlyapp1.shtml?. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- ^ Hurricane Research Division (2006). "Re-Analysis Project". NOAA. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/re_anal.html. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ Michael Chenoweth (2006). "A Re-assessment of Historical Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone Activity, 1700-1855". NOAA. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/Chenoweth/chenoweth06.pdf. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ Al Sandrik and Chris Landsea (2003). "Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899". Hurricane Research Division. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/history/index.html. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ a b Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (2005). "NEMO remembers the great hurricane of 1780". http://www.cdera.org/cunews/news/saint_lucia/article_1314.php. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
[edit] Further reading
- Blodgett, L., Climatology of United States, p. 397, "The Great Hurricane of 1780."
- Depradine, C. A., 1989: Pre-1900 severe hurricanes in the Caribbean. Notes compiled for the Caribbean Meteorological Institute, Saint James, Barbados.
- Dunbar, 1804: Transactions of the American [Philosophical] Society, Philadelphia, vol. 6, second series. Philadelphia.
- Fitzpatrick, Patrick J., 1999: Natural Disasters: Hurricanes. ABC-CLIO Inc., ISBN 1-57607-071-9
- Ludlum, D. M., 1963: Early American hurricanes, 1492-1870. Amer. Meteor. Soc., Boston, 198 pp.
- Millas, Dr. José Carlos, 1968: Hurricanes of the Caribbean and adjacent regions, 1492-1800. Academy of the Arts and Sciences of the Americas, Miami, Florida, 328 pp.
- Rappaport, Edward N., and Jose Fernandez-Partagas, 1996: The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492–1996.
- Salivia, Dr. Luis A., 1950: Historia de los Temporales de Puerto Rico, 1508-1949.
- Winds and weather of the West Indian region, U.S. Weather Bureau, 1940, 190 pp.
- 1780–1789 Atlantic hurricane seasons
- Unknown strength tropical cyclones
- Hurricanes in the Leeward Islands
- Hurricanes in the Windward Islands
- Hurricanes in Barbados
- Hurricanes in Bermuda
- Hurricanes in Dominica
- Hurricanes in Guadeloupe
- Hurricanes in Martinique
- Hurricanes in Puerto Rico
- Hurricanes in Saba
- Hurricanes in Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Hurricanes in Sint Eustatius
- Hurricanes in the British Virgin Islands
- Hurricanes in the United States Virgin Islands
- Hurricanes in the United States
- Natural disasters in the Leeward Islands
- Natural disasters in the Windward Islands
- 1780 natural disasters
- 1780 in the Caribbean
- 1780 in the United States