Great hurricane of 1780

Great hurricane of 1780

Areas affected by the hurricane (excluding Bermuda )
Emergence	October 9, 1780
resolution	October 20, 1780
Peak wind speed	200  mph (320  km / h ) (gusts)
Lowest air pressure	Unknown
dead	20,000+
Property damage	Unknown
Affected areas	Lesser Antilles , Puerto Rico , Dominican Republic , Bermuda , possibly Florida (lack of information)
Season overview: Atlantic hurricane season 1780

The Great Hurricane of 1780 , in the English-speaking area Great Hurricane of 1780 or Hurricane San Calixto II , is considered to be the deadliest Atlantic hurricane to date . Around 22,000 people died when the storm swept across the islands of Martinique , St. Eustatius and Barbados from October 10-16, 1780 . In addition, thousands of seafarers lost their lives in distress .

The hurricane hit the Caribbean during the American Revolutionary War , causing many casualties among the men of the British and French fleets who fought over the area. British Admiral George Rodney lost eight of twelve warships and most of his seamen when the ships were scattered and damaged during the voyage from New York to the West Indies .

A scout sent by the British Crown reported that the storm lingered near Barbados for two days. The destruction was so great that he thought the hurricane damage was a combination of storm , rain and an earthquake , because the island of Barbados was almost completely razed to the ground. Virtually every family on the island lost a family member.

Other severe Atlantic storms included Hurricane Galveston in 1900, Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, all of which caused fewer deaths than the Great Hurricane of 1780.

Atlantic hurricanes with the most casualties

rank	hurricane	year	Fatalities
1	Great hurricane of 1780	1780	22,000+
2	Hurricane Mitch	1998	11,000-18,000
3	Galveston Hurricane 1900	1900	6,000-12,000
4th	Hurricane Fifi	1974	8,000-10,000
5	San Zenon Hurricane	1930	2,000-8,000
6th	Hurricane flora	1963	7,186-8,000
7th	Pointe-à-Pitre	1776	6,000+
8th	Newfoundland hurricane	1775	4,000-4,163
9	Okeechobee hurricane	1928	3,375-4,075
10	San Ciriaco hurricane	1899	3,064-3,433 +
Ranking according to the highest assumed number of victims.

literature

• Wayne Neely: The Great Hurricane of 1780: The Story of the Greatest and Deadliest Hurricane of the Caribbean and the Americas . iUniverse, 2012.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Great hurricane of 1780 . In: Encyclopædia Britannica , August 12, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2017. (English)