Pensacola and hurricanes

[Ivanhater]

I thought this was very interesting and not everyone may know...

Pensacola was Americas 1st settlement in 1559 but was destroyed by a hurricane...go figure



Pensacola was the first settlement of Europeans in what is now the United States. The area was first sighted by a European in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Three years later, Don Diego Miruelo became the first European to sail into Pensacola Bay.
A settlement was founded in 1559 by Don Tristan de Luna and his party of about 1500 Spanish settlers. However, the settlement was destroyed by a major hurricane shortly afterwards, and was abandoned.

For this reason, many people instead regard St. Augustine, Florida as the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States. The City of Pensacola, however, still occasionally refers to the area as "America's First Settlement" in advertisements and travel brochures.

The city and its bay were named after the Panzacola indians, a tribe that lived near the bay when the Spanish arrived. The name was changed to Pensacola to make it easier to pronounce for the Spanish. Despite the original settlement's destruction, the name was preserved and used when the area was re-settled during the 17th Century.

The area was first referred to as "Panzacola" in 1686. Previously, it was known as "Bahia Santa Maria de Filipina", as it was named so by Tristan de Luna when he founded the area's first settlement. "Panzacola" was affirmed as the area's name by a royal order of Spanish King Ferdinand VI in 1757.

The Spanish resettled Pensacola in 1698 under the direction of governor Andrés de Arriola. The French captured the settlement in 1719 and remained in control for three years. They burned the settlement on their retreat in 1722. The area was rebuilt, but ravaged by hurricanes in 1752 and 1761.

British Phase
At the close of the Seven Years' War (known in America as the French and Indian War) in 1763 the British took control of Pensacola. It is during the British occupation that the area began to prosper. Pensacola was made the capital of British West Florida and the town was laid out in its current form around the Seville Square district by surveyor and engineer Elias Durnford.
Spanish/American Phase
The Spanish recaptured Pensacola in 1781 and retained control (excepting three short-lived invasions by American General Andrew Jackson in 1813, 1814, and 1818) until 1821, when the Adams-Onís Treaty ceded all of Spanish Florida to the United States.
In 1825, the area for the Navy Yard was designated and Congress appropriated $6,000 for a lighthouse. The first permanent Protestant Christian congregation was established in 1827.

The Pensacola area is home to three historic U.S. forts, Fort Pickens, Fort Barrancas, and Fort McRee, as well as Barrancas National Cemetery. The city and Fort Barrancas were the site of the 1814 Battle of Pensacola. Fort Pickens was completed in 1834. It holds the distinction of being the only Southern fort not to be captured by the Confederacy in the American Civil War.

On 3 March 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state.

Confederate Phase
When Florida seceded from the Union on January 10th, 1861, remaining Union forces in the city evacuated to Fort Pickens. The Confederacy then held Pensacola until abandoning the city in May of 1862.
Florida was readmitted to the Union on 25 June 1868.

Other notable facts
From 1885 to 1887, the famous Apache Indian chief Geronimo was imprisoned in Fort Pickens, along with several of his warriors and their families. Fort Pickens is now a part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and as such, is administered by the United States Park Service.
Pensacola was the capital of Florida before Tallahassee became the capital.

Pensacola is home to a very large Jewish community, whose roots stretch back to the mid to late 1800s. The first Florida chapter of B'nai Brith was founded downtown in 1874, as well as the first temple, Beth-El, in 1876. Paula Ackerman, the first woman who performed rabbinical functions in the United States, was a Pensacola native and led services at Beth-El. Today, Pensacola has the second-largest concentration of Jewish people in the state, behind the South Florida metropolitan area.

Geography
Pensacola is located at 30°26'13" North, 87°12'33" West (30.436988, -87.209277).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 102.7 km² (39.7 mi²). 58.8 km² (22.7 mi²) of it is land and 43.9 km² (17.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 42.77% water.

Hurricanes
Pensacola's location on the Florida Panhandle makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. Major hurricanes which have made landfall at or near Pensacola include Hurricane Juan (1985), Hurricane Opal (1995), and Hurricane Ivan (2004).
The Pensacola area was devastated by Hurricane Ivan. The hurricane either damaged or destroyed a large number of homes and businesses. Particularly hard-hit were the areas around Perdido Bay and Pensacola Beach. In addition, many of the area's bridges sustained structural damage. The hurricane disrupted public schools in Escambia County for nearly a month.

[docjoe]

Nice post. If I am not mistaken it was the 1752 storm that moved the settlement off of Santa Rosa Island for good and relocated to current day Pensacola. I would venture a guess that over time Pensacola and the surrounding areas have had their history altered by hurricanes as much or more than any other city in the country.

docjoe

be young...be foolish...be happy

[Ivanhater]

Nice post. If I am not mistaken it was the 1752 storm that moved the settlement off of Santa Rosa Island for good and relocated to current day Pensacola. I would venture a guess that over time Pensacola and the surrounding areas have had their history altered by hurricanes as much or more than any other city in the country.

docjoe

be young...be foolish...be happy

ya, im not sure which hurricane relocated pensacola to the north shore...but its better than having it on an island...could you imagine have the city of pensacola on present day pensacola beach

[Ivanhater]

The Great Tempest, Sept 1559: this storm destoyed 7 of the 13 ships anchored in what is now called Pensacola Bay, the fleet of Spaniard Don tristan de Luna y Arreland. The settlement at what is now known as Fort Barrancas was leveled. It was such a monumental disaster that Spain did not attempt to re-establish a colony in this area for 164 years, and there is no written record of tropical cyclone activity until the early 18th century:
1711 New Orleans to Pensacola:A powerful storm struck the fledgling colonies at Vieux Biloxi, (the first French foothold in the Louisiana territory established in 1699 at what is now Ocean Springs, MS), New Orleans, and Mobile. It caused great damage there, as well as to the French colony in Pensacola.
1736 The second Spanish Pensacola colony: In 1723, Pensacola was destroyed in the Spanish War of Succession and reverted again from French to Spanish control. The Spanish rebuilt the colony on the western end of Santa Rosa Island, to make it easier to defend, but this decision left it highly vulnerable to hurricanes. Thirteen years later, the colony was completely wiped out by a storm surge that drowned virtually all the inhabitants. Spain finally rebuilt on higher ground north of what is now the Naval Air Station.
1766 October 22-23 Pensacola to Apalachee Bay: A huge storm destroyed 6 ships in Pensacola Bay and 5 galleons in the Bay of St. Bernard. A 12 foot storm surge inundated St Marks.
1772 August 31 Pascagoula to Pensacola: wind damage occurred as much as 30 miles from the beaches, all but one wharf in Pensacola was destroyed. Tidal surge in Mobile and Pascagoula sent vessels and debris up the Pascagoula River 30 miles up river from the mouth.
1778 October 7 Pensacola: Most of the waterfront was destroyed, all of the ships in the harbor, except one British sloop-of-war, were destroyed.
1837 "Racer's Hurricane": formed in the Caribbean and moved from there, across the Yucatan, and just prior to landfall near the Rio Grande, it turned north, then northeast, then east, and slammed into Perd
ido Key.
1852 August 24-25 Mobile to Pensacola: A severe hurricane washed away three-fourths of the wharves in Pensacola Harbor.
1906 just west of Mobile, AL history this Category 4 hurricane was the most destructive storm to strike the Pensacola area in 170 years (since the great 1736 hurricane). Sustained winds reached 140 MPH with a 14 foot storm surge on Santa Rosa Island. Thirty-eight railroad cars loaded with coal were washed away, the entire coastal waterfront area from Mobile to
Pensacola was destroyed, 134 residents died.

1911 Pensacola history a small diameter hurricane formed in the Gulf just NW of the FL Keys and quickly moved northwest into the extreme western Panhandle
1916 July Gulfport, MS history a Category 3 storm moved from deep in the tropics (just north of Panama) to Mississippi then stalled for five days on the coast. Hurricane force (104MPH) winds caused over $1 million dollars (1916 dollars) damage to the newly established Naval Air Station in Pensacola.
1916 October Pensacola history with a track very similar to another October storm (Opal, 79 years later), this Category 3 storm lashed the NAS again with 114 MPH winds (prior to the anemometer blowing away)
1917 Pensacola history for the third time in 14 months, the Pensacola Naval Air Station is hit by a Category 3 hurricane, extensive damage inland with 5 deaths in Crestview
1919 Pensacola history an early July tropical storm moves into the panhandle from the SE Gulf of Mexico

1926 Miami then Mobile history this was a catastrophic event for both south Florida and the Panhandle with 243 deaths statewide, and damage that exceeded $1.5 billion in today's dollars. This was a Category 4 hurricane when it destroyed much of Miami, then a Cat 3 when it entered the Gulf of Mexico although Cat 4 winds as high as 152 MPH were recorded in Pensacola as well. Tides were up to 14 feet above normal in Bagdad along East bay. At the NAS, 30 seaplanes were destroyed along with several hangars. It created the highest tides ever measured at , 10-12 feet above Mean Sea Level.

1950 Hurricane BAKER: Perdido Key history Hurricanes were first named in 1950, the first with a name to affect the area was Baker. After reaching Category 3 intensity in the Leeward Islands it began a long journey winding through the Caribbean and then turned north into the Gulf of Mexico just above the Yucatan Peninsula. A Cat 2 in the Gulf, it prompted a full evacuation of all aircraft from Naval Air Station Pensacola and from Eglin AFB, totalling over 400 planes from both services. A 4 foot storm surge tide at Cinco Bayou damaged piers, while a higher surge at Destin washed nearly all the docks and gulf facing property out to sea. A large stretch of Highway 98 was washed out as well. Baker dumped 7.52 inches of rain on Eglin AFB.
1985 Hurricane ELENA: Elena will always be remembered as the most unpredictable and fickle of Gulf of Mexico hurricanes to ever threaten such a large coastal population. Its track originally had the storm heading NW toward Mississippi, however forecasters anticipated that a trough approaching from the west would begin to curve Elena northward and hurricane watches were posted for NW Florida. When she strengthened to a major (Category 3) hurricane and watches were upgraded to warnings, thousands of coastal residents, and holiday tourists (it was Labor Day weekend) were evacuated from Gulf Shores to Panama City. After reaching a point less than 100 miles south of Pensacola, Elena veered eastward and warnings were extended to the Tampa area. When the eye passed well east of Apalachicola, still moving away, warnings were dropped for the Emerald Coast and thousands returned to the beaches to salvage what they could from the weekend. With the roads leading onto the barrier islands crowded with cars returning to the coast, Elena suddenly looped back and turned 180 degrees back toward NW Florida. The trough, with winds from the west in the upper atmosphere, had pushed Elena almost to landfall near Tampa (creating 7-9 ft storm surge at Cedar Key). When this trough lifted out,unexpectedly, and a ridge filled in behind it with upper level easterly winds, these winds carried Elena back to the west. Warnings were re-issued and evacuation orders for coastal areas of Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa Counties created mass confusion and traffic congestion as emergency management and law enforcement officials rushed to get people out of areas that they had, only hours earlier, been given the all-clear. As it turned out, Elena's second approach to NW Florida did not end in landfall either, as it deflected slightly to the left and the eye and eyewall passed about 30 miles offshore south of Eglin AFB and continued WNW into Mississippi, where it originally had been headed three days earlier. Damage to Florida was primarily along the immediate shoreline where two close approaches of the storm had generated large swells and 20 foot waves caused significant beach erosion, as well as washing some piers and waterfront property into the sea. Total damage from Mississippi to Venice Beach, Florida exceeded $1.2 billion dollars, but the economic impact of what was then, the largest coastal evacuation in history (one million people) over a holiday weekend, has been difficult to estimate and the subject of much controversy.
1985 Hurricane JUAN: Pensacola history Part of a hyperactive 1985 Gulf of Mexico season which saw a total of 4 storms threaten the Panhandle (it is not listed, but Danny also threatened the area in July as well before striking Louisiana southwest of New Orleans). Juan was a minimal (Category 1) hurricane which stalled and looped south of the Louisiana bayou country. This allowed the storm to dump excessive rainfall which flooded much of southern Lousiana resulting in over $1.5 billion in damage (at the time, it made this the 8th costliest hurricane in U.S. history (14th costliest in today's dollars). Juan then weakened to a tropical storm and merged with a frontal system as it came ashore near Pensacola.
1995 Hurricane ERIN: Pensacola Beach history storm report from NHC Erin formed in the Atlantic and moved through the Bahamas (where it sank a 234 foot cruise ship) enroute to its first landfall on the east coast of Florida near Vero Beach. It weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed the peninsula and entered the Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa. It then quickly re-intensified and began heading for what was forecast to be landfall near Biloxi, MS. Instead, Erin turned suddenly, just south of Cape San Blas, from a WNW to a NW course and the eye came ashore at Pensacola Beach (2.89 inches of rain fell at Eglin AFB from Erin). While Purdue records show it was a Category 1 hurricane (and the last NHC advisory prior to landfall still listed 95 MPH winds, the upper limit of Cat 1), Erin was strengthening at landfall (the pressure in the eye fell 11 mb in the predawn hours just off the coast) and there is considerable evidence that it may have reached Category 2 intensity based on the damage done to Pensacola Beach by 100+ MPH winds (winds as high as 90 MPH were reported as far inland as Jackson, MS). Based on this, the Hurricane Center now lists Erin as a Cat 2 on its historical records. Damage exceeded $700 million, placing Erin in the top 15 most costly storms.
1995 Hurricane OPAL: Navarre Beach history storm report from NHC Opal formed in the Bay of Campeche and drifted without much motion for two days before being picked up on October 3rd by a trough over the southcentral U.S. It accelerated rapidly toward the northeast in the direction of Eglin AFB and moved over a warm eddy of 85 deg F water. This helped to trigger an explosive episode of deepening during the evening of the 3rd through the early morning hours of October 4th which saw Opal's eye pressure drop from 965 to 916 mb in less than 18 hours. Winds measured by reconnaissance aircraft peaked as high as 152 knots, and the storm was upgraded from Category 1 to 4. This deepening event, which occurred while many coastal residents were asleep caused a near-panic as they awoke to find a much more dangerous storm rapidly approaching the area. Highways 87 and 85 leading north out of Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties became hopelessly clogged. Some residents reported that when they evacuated to Tallahassee, a trip that normally takes 2-3 hours, the drive lasted 10-12 hours. Many abandoned their vehicles along Interstate 10 and evacuation routes feeding northbound, and sought shelter from the increasing wind and rain wherever they could find it. Fortunately, Opal began to weaken just prior to landfall as the intense inner eyewall that had been formed during the night before, dissipated over colder waters near the coast, leaving a large, much weaker and poorly defined eyewall. A large mass of dry air also became entrained into the circulation from the west, and finally, shear ahead of an approaching cold front began to disturb the structure of Opal as well. This all resulted in the center pressure filling 26 millibars (942mb at landfall) and maximum winds decreasing to the lower end of the Category 3 range. However, the rapid intensification and acceleration of Opal had kicked up a tremendous storm surge which did not have time to weaken significantly before coming ashore. As a result, while there was very little wind damage away from the immediate shoreline, there was extensive damage within 100 yards of the beach and on barrier islands from surge and wave action. The highest sustained wind at Eglin AFB was 70 knots with a 100 knot gust (115 MPH). The 125 knot (144 MPH) wind gust reported at Hurlburt Field is now widely dismissed as being due to instrument error. Exactly 9.00 inches of rain fell on Eglin AFB during Opal's passage. The storm surge was measured as high as 14 feet between Destin and Panama City. State Highway 399 along the Gulf from Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach was completely washed out, as were some sections of Highway 98, and other coastal roads in Walton and Bay Counties. Damage totalled $3 billion dollars making Opal the fourth most expensive storm in U.S. history.


and of course, ivan and dennis...