Atlantic hurricane season 1780
| Formation of the first storm |
≤ June 13, 1780 |
|---|---|
| Dissolution of the last storm |
≥ November 17, 1780 |
| Storms | ≥ 8 |
| Severe hurricanes ( Cat. 3+ ) | ≥ 4 |
| Total number of victims | ≥ 25,000 |
| Total damage | Unknown |
The 1780 Atlantic hurricane season ran through the summer and fall of 1780 and was extraordinarily devastating - with more than 25,000 deaths, it was the Atlantic hurricane season with the highest number of fatalities. Three different hurricanes each killed more than 1,000 people; Such a course has not yet been observed and only in the Atlantic hurricane seasons 1893 and 2005 there were two such hurricanes. The meteorological records from this period do not cover the entire hurricane region, but large parts of the coastline were sufficiently populated to document the course of some of these hurricanes. It is possible, however, that there were more than the eight recorded tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin far on the high seas in 1780.
Historical context
The accumulation of destruction this hurricane season is against the backdrop of the American Revolutionary War . Due to the hostilities between the fleets of Spain, France and the Netherlands on the one hand and the Royal Navy on the other in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, an increased number of ships were operating , which were increasingly exposed to weather hazards during combat operations and troop transports. This resulted in a considerable loss of human life, especially in the case of the three severe hurricanes that hit the operational area of the fleets involved in quick succession in October 1780.
Storms
Santa Lucia hurricane
On June 13, a hurricane caused deaths and property damage in Puerto Rico after it hit St. Lucia .
Louisiana hurricane
New Orleans experienced a powerful hurricane on August 24 with peak gusts of over 255 km / h, which destroyed 39 of the 45 buildings in Grand Isle . The Eye passed over New Orleans the following night, severely damaging a number of buildings in what is now known as the French Quarter . According to the Comte de Lafrenière's records, the harvest was ruinously damaged, with floods and tornadoes .
Saint Kitts Storm
On August 25th, St. Kitts , one of the Leeward Islands, was hit by a storm.
Savanna la Mar hurricane
On October 3rd, a hurricane hit Jamaica , completely destroying the seaport of Savanna-la-Mar . The cyclone continued on its way and struck Cuba on October 4th , where it is estimated that it killed 1,115 people.
The Great Hurricane
The second hurricane of October 1780 is still referred to as "The Great Hurricane" . It caused the deaths of 22,000 people in the eastern Caribbean, making it one of the most devastating hurricanes in the region. The effects were particularly felt by the fleets of Great Britain and France, which lay in wait in the region to attack the rich possessions of the opposing nation.
Solano's hurricane
The third very strong hurricane of October 1780 is called "Solano's Hurricane" . This met a Spanish fleet in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which consisted of 64 ships under the command of José Solano and was on the way from Havana , Cuba to Pensacola in Florida . On board the ships were 4000 soldiers under the command of Bernardo de Gálvez , of whom around 2000 lost their lives in the course of the storm. The slow-moving hurricane was first spotted near Jamaica on October 15, and is believed to be moving northwest over the western end of Cuba before turning northeast and towards Apalachee Bay . It encountered Solano's fleet on October 20, before disintegrating somewhere over the southeastern North American land mass on October 22.
Other tropical cyclones
At the end of October, a tropical cyclone hit Barbados and then St. Lucia .
Around November 17, a tropical cyclone moved northward on the east coast of the United States, disrupting the British sea blockade of the states in New England .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Kerry A. Emanuel: Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes ( English ). Oxford University Press, New York 2005, ISBN 0195149416 , pp. 65-66.
- ^ A b The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996 ( English ) National Hurricane Center . Retrieved March 17, 2009.
- ↑ a b c d David M. Ludlum: Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870 . American Meteorological Society, Boston 1963, p. 66.
- ^ David M. Ludlum: Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870 . American Meteorological Society, Boston 1963, pp. 72-73.
- ^ A b Bob Sheets, Williams, Jack: Hurricane Watch Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth . Vintage Books, New York 2001, pp. 19, pp. 65-66.