Great Hurricane of 1780
| hurricane | |
|---|---|
| Formed | Oct. 10, 1780 ? |
| Dissipated | Oct. 19, 1780 ? |
The Great Hurricane of 1780 is considered the deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclone of all time. About 22,000 people died when the storm swept over Martinique, St. Eustatius and Barbados between October 10 and October 16 [1]. Thousands of deaths also occurred offshore.
The storm
The hurricane struck the Caribbean in the midst of the American Revolution and took a heavy toll on the British and French fleets contesting for control of the area. The fleet commanded by British Admiral George Rodney, sailing from New York to the West Indies, was scattered and damaged by the storm. Arriving at Barbados, Admiral Rodney found eight of 12 warships he had left there a total loss and most of their crews drowned.
| Deadliest Atlantic hurricanes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Hurricane | Season | Fatalities |
| 1 | ? "Great Hurricane" | 1780 | 22,000–27,501 |
| 2 | 5 Mitch | 1998 | 11,374+ |
| 3 | 2 Fifi | 1974 | 8,210–10,000 |
| 4 | 4 "Galveston" | 1900 | 8,000–12,000 |
| 5 | 4 Flora | 1963 | 7,193 |
| 6 | ? "Pointe-à-Pitre" | 1776 | 6,000+ |
| 7 | 5 "Okeechobee" | 1928 | 4,112+ |
| 8 | ? "Newfoundland" | 1775 | 4,000–4,163 |
| 9 | 3 "Monterrey" | 1909 | 4,000 |
| 10 | 4 "San Ciriaco" | 1899 | 3,855 |
A British scout sent to survey the damage reported that the storm had lingered near Barbados for two days. The destruction was so great that the scout mistakenly thought that an earthquake had accompanied the storm. The island was almost completely leveled. Dozens of fishing boats failed to return from their trips. Almost every family living on the island lost a family member in the storm.
Trivia
The 1780 Atlantic hurricane season was unique in that it had 3 hurricanes that caused at least 1,000 deaths each; all three were in October. [2]
Sunspots reached a record peak about 1780, the highest level for a period of several centuries. The supermaximal solar cycle, ca 1775-1785, included an unusually high number of fatal hurricanes - 3 of the top 10, 6 of the top 25 most fatal hurricanes recorded in the past four centuries[3]. Solar activity subsequently only yielded greater numbers of sunspots, in the cycles peaking in 1958, 2000-2002, the highest general level of solar activity for several thousand years[4][citation needed].
Other Atlantic storms that caused very high numbers of deaths include Hurricane Mitch and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900; by comparison, Hurricane Katrina killed fewer than 2,000 people.
See also
External links
- The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492–1996, by Edward N. Rappaport and Jose Fernandez-Partagas
- Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, by Patrick J. Fitzpatrick, ABC-CLIO Inc. 1999, ISBN 1576070719