1893 Sea Islands hurricane
| Category 3 hurricane (SSHS) | |
|---|---|
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| Damaged houses in Beaufort, South Carolina | |
| Formed | August 15, 1893 |
| Dissipated | September 2, 1893 |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 120 mph (195 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 954 mbar (hPa); 28.17 inHg |
| Fatalities | 1000-2000 |
| Damage | $1 million (1893 USD) |
| Areas affected | Georgia, South Carolina |
| Part of the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season | |
On August 27, 1893 a major hurricane which came to be known as the Sea Islands Hurricane struck the United States near Savannah, Georgia.[1] It was one of two deadly hurricanes during the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season; the storm killed an estimated 1,000–2,000 people, mostly from storm surge. This is also the storm that made famous United States Life-Saving Service Keeper Dunbar Davis.
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[edit] Meteorological history
Modern analysis of historical records has allowed the history of this storm to be pieced together, although the analysis is only estimations since few accurate meteorological records were taken.
On August 15, a tropical storm formed east of Cape Verde. It likely passed directly through islands on the 16th, leaving their vicinity during the evening of the 17th. It became a hurricane on the 19th, while crossing the Atlantic between the Cape Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles. The hurricane continued to strengthen, attaining Category 3 status on August 22 while located northeast of the Lesser Antilles. By the evening of the 25th, the storm was approaching the Bahamas. During the approach it began to deviate from its westerly course and arc west-northwest. It is believed that the first effects of the storm were beginning to be felt in the Sea Islands area, with the winds steadily increasing during the night of the 25th.
Some of the inhabitants anticipated the storm and left the islands as quickly as possible. The conditions soon rapidly deteriorated on the island and the hurricane passed over sometime on the 26th. By now the hurricane was turning more and more towards the north. It moved parallel to the coast for about one hundred miles before making landfall.
Landfall occurred near Savannah, Georgia on August 27. Reports from the time say that wind during landfall was around 120 mph (190 km/h), making it a category 3 storm. Pressure in Savannah was measured at 960 mbar (28 inHg); modern estimates put the pressure around 954 mbar (28.2 inHg) at landfall, and possibly as low as 931 mbar (27.5 inHg) out at sea. This would have made the hurricane most likely stronger than a Category 3 storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The hurricane passed north over South Carolina on August 28 and moved up the U.S. East Coast before becoming extratropical over Atlantic Canada.
[edit] Impact
The hurricane carried with it a heavy storm surge (16 ft/4.9 m, according to Clara Barton), which caused great destruction along the coastline and offshore Sea Islands in Georgia and South Carolina. An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people were killed (mostly by drowning), putting it on-par with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the 4th deadliest hurricane in US history. This estimate is quite conservative, though, considering the large populations of poor rural African-Americans in the area who had little means of reporting casualties.[citation needed] 30,000 or more were left homeless as nearly every building along the barrier islands was damaged beyond repair.
Although the hurricane had been devastating, the American Red Cross did not arrive until October 1, possibly because of ongoing efforts because of another hurricane that had hit South Carolina in June. After the Red Cross arrived, a warehouse of clothing and food was started at Beaufort, South Carolina in order to provide services to the affected. Unfortunately, relief efforts were impeded by a second Category 3 hurricane that struck just north of the area, near Charleston, South Carolina, on October 13. During a massive 10-month relief campaign, success was declared, with the Sea Islands population living in decent houses producing their own food again. Damages from the storm totaled to at least $1 million (1893 USD).[2]
[edit] See also
- List of tropical cyclones
- List of Atlantic hurricanes
- List of New England hurricanes
- 1893 Cheniere Caminada Hurricane
- 1893 Charleston Hurricane
- Dunbar Davis
- List of Florida hurricanes
- List of North Carolina hurricanes
[edit] References
- ^ Christine Gibson "Our 10 Greatest Natural Disasters," American Heritage, Aug./Sept. 2006.
- ^ David Longshore Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones pg. 286
[edit] Further reading
- Marscher, William; Marscher, Fran (2004). The Great Sea Island Storm of 1893. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-867-6.
- Satterthwait, Elisabeth Carpenter (1898). A Son of the Carolinas, A story of the Hurricane upon The Sea Islands. Philadelphia, Pa.: Henry Altemus. 273 pp. ISBN 0836990625 (ISBN 0-8369-9062-5) -- a historical-fiction account from the perspective of the people affected.
- Katharine M. Jones: Port Royal Under Six Flags, The Story of the Sea Islands, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., Indianapolis & New York, 1960, Part XIV, "The Big Storm of 1893."
[edit] External links
- Cyclone of 1893 [1]
- NOAA Hurricane Track
- August 27 in Georgia history
- Beaufort County Public Library hurricane history
- North Florida & Coastal Georgia hurricanes, 1565-1899
- UNISYS 1893 hurricane tracks
- [2]
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