The Great Hurricane of 1780

[donsutherland1]

From October 10-16, 1780, a Category 4 hurricane smashed across Martinique, St. Eustatius and Barbados claiming 22,000 lives. This hurricane remains the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record.

Although photographs were still far into the future, some reports and letters from those who experienced the storm vividly described its fury. Those letters also highlight how new the hurricane experience was to the colonists at the time. Some excerpts follow:

From a letter from Martinique, dated November 10, 1780:
My letter being not yet sealed, permit me to add a few lines to inform you of the news we have received from Barbadoes, which makes us shudder. That Island has never before been subjected to any hurricane, but now has experienced its horrors. All the houses and fortifications have been carried off by the violence of the sea. The gaols [jails] were opened to the prisoners in general, who saved themselves upon the heights of the mountains; they no sooner got out of them than they were carried off... All the ships and vessels that were at anchor in the harbor were lost, and not a single man saved.

From an account by Captain Yellot who arrived in Baltimore from St. Eustatius:
At Barbadoes the greater part of the town blown down; upwards of 3000 persons perished; not one vessel saved except some that got to sea, and a great part of the island wash'd away. In Grenada, much damage done to the estates; not one vessel saved except some that got out to sea. At St. Vincents a transport with three hundred soldiers, two souls only saved; a frigate of 36 guns, 340 men, one man saved. At Martinique, every vessel at St. Piere's drove to sea or on shore; some of them have got in here, some taken, some lost: there were upwards of one hundred sail at St. Piere's, forty of which arrived from France the day before the gale, with stores for the king. At Dominica, much damage to the estates, the houses near the water mostly ruined. No accounts from St. Lucia, Guadaloupe, or Antigua, but suppose they have had neighbor's fate. At Nevis no vessels saved, and much damage done to the island. At St. Christopher's, 26 sail of vessels and their cargoes lost, with the greatest part of their crews: some of the vessels were ready to sail for Europe. In this island seven vessels drove ashore; the men on board were either drowned in the surf or cut to pieces with the wrecks; some were lost on St. Croix, some got in there, and many, I believe, went to the bottom. It was the highest sea ever known here.

Extract from a letter from the Attorney-General at Guadeloupe:
The gale of wind which happened on the 12th Oct. was the most severe perhaps ever known. Barbadoes suffered amazingly, 6500 souls perished. Tobago laid waste, Grenades, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Martinique, suffered more than any person can conceive. St. Kitts and Eustatia, did not escape without damage: this island did but just feel it.

[wx247]

Wow... what a great post! Thank you so much for sharing that Don!

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

In a book I have titled "The Killer Storms" by Gary Jennings it claims that the "Great Hurricane of 1780" was actually not one, but three hurricanes, and thus didn't exist at all. This book of course was published in the 1970s, so it could be in error.

[Aquawind]

Now that a different take! 3 vs 1 funky.. I think that would be fairly easy to determine with so many island and ports with debris and then simply the time frame required for it to occur. Tri Fujiwara..

[Air Force Met]

In a book I have titled "The Killer Storms" by Gary Jennings it claims that the "Great Hurricane of 1780" was actually not one, but three hurricanes, and thus didn't exist at all. This book of course was published in the 1970s, so it could be in error.

The NHC still has it as one storm...and all the research I have seen has one storm during that time. The wind velocity listed in some of the reports indicates that three storms that close together would be pretty much impossible.

This from the NHC site:

The largest loss shown in Appendix 1 occurred in the Lesser Antilles in mid-October 1780, during The Great Hurricane. Estimates indicate that around 22,000 deaths occurred in that storm, with a total of about 9,000 lives lost in Martinique, 4,000-5,000 in St. Eustatius, and 4,326 in Barbados. Thousands of deaths also occurred offshore. Based on Appendix 1, the number of fatalities during The Great Hurricane of 1780 exceeds the cumulative loss in any year (except 1780) and, in fact, in all other decades.

And...

The Great Hurricane developed during mid-October. It was one of three tropical cyclones to kill more than 1,000 people that month.

Maybe that is where the number three is coming from?

[Janice]

Great post, thanks. I never want to see that.....

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

What kind of track could result in the complete devastation of that many islands so far apart?

[weatherwindow]

the two others were the savannah-al-mare, jamaica hurricane and solano's storm in the northeastern gulf....2-5 oct and 17-21 oct respectively....

[weatherwindow]

What kind of track could result in the complete devastation of that many islands so far apart?

....the storm was first noted in the windwards...tracking generally nnw to n thru the leewards into the southeast-central bahamas and offshore along the mid-atlantic to new england coasts...the majority of the casualties were maritime involving the british and french fleets in the islands and along the north american coast.....rich

[bvigal]

Following article from CDERA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency:
http://www.cdera.org/cunews/news/saint_ ... e_1314.php

Saint Lucia
NEMO remembers the great hurricane of 1780
By NEMO Secretariat
Fri, 7 Oct 2005, 15:55

The greatest of all Hurricanes occurred from October 10 - 16, 1780. as the storm hit virtually every island from Tobago in the south east through the Leeward Islands across to Hispaniola. The death toll was 4,500 in Barbados, 9,000 in Martinique and 4,500 in St. Eustatius. [Source: Disaster Mitigation Guidelines by PAHO] .and so we remember the 225th Anniversary of the GREAT Hurricane, where so many died.

The following article is by Dr. Colin Depradine, the Principal of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). (The article was originally published in "The Advisory", The 35th Anniversary Edition of the CIMH, 2002.)

The Great Hurricane of October 10, 1780, is arguably, the most destructive hurricane to have struck Barbados and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean. It is estimated that 22,000 persons lost their lives in Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Martinique.

The following quotation from a book by Reclus (1873) gives an approximate idea of the violence of this storm:

"Starting from Barbados, where neither trees nor dwellings were left standing, it caused the English fleet anchored off St. Lucia to disappear and completely ravaged this island, where 6000 persons were crushed under the ruins. After this, the whirlwind tending toward Martinique, enveloped a convoy of French transports, and sunk more than 40 ships carrying 4000 soldiers; on land, the town of St. Pierre and other places ere completely razed by the rind, and 9000 persons perished there. More to the north, Dominique, St. Eustatius, St. Vincent (?) and Porto Rico were likewise devastated and most of the vessels which were on the path of the cyclone foundered, with all their crews. Beyond Porto Rico, the tempest bent to the north-east, toward the Bermudas and though its violence had gradually diminished, it sunk several English warships returning to Europe."

The following quotation is from a letter from Sir George Rodney to Lady Rodney dated at St. Lucia, December 10, 1780 on the effects of the storm on Barbados:

"The strongest buildings and the whole of the houses, most of which were stone, and remarkable for their solidity, gave way to the fury of the wind, and were torn up to their foundations; all the forts destroyed, and many of the heavy cannon carried upwards of a hundred feet from the forts. Had I not been an eyewitness, nothing could have induced me to have believed it. More than six thousand persons perished, and all the inhabitants are entirely ruined."

Some indication of the violence of the storm can be gleaned from a letter from Dr. Gilbert Blane, in Barbados, to Dr. Hunter in which he writes.

".........what will give as strong an idea of the force of the wind as anything, many of them (of the trees) were stripped of their bark".

Dr. Jose Millas writes that in hurricanes in which the wind has reached 200 miles an hour in the most severe gusts, this phenomenon has not been mentioned. In the Havana hurricane of October 18, 1944 the maximum wind velocity was measured at 163 miles an hour and the bark of the trees remained in tact. He suggests that tiny water bullets would have to reach the trees with a very, very great velocity so as to be able to strip them of their bark. Probably that velocity must be greater than 200 miles an hour.

Major -General Cunninghame, Governor of Barbados, in his account of the Hurricane at Barbados wrote:

"The armory was leveled to the ground, and the arms scattered about. The buildings were all demolished; for so violent was the storm here, when assisted by the sea, that a 12 pounder gun was carried from the south to the north battery, a distance of 140 yards.. The loss to this country is immense: many years will be required to retrieve it".

The following quotation from a paper by Dr. Gilbert Blane in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is instructive:

"There had been nothing that could be called a hurricane felt at Barbados for more than a century before 1780, so that the inhabitants began to think themselves exempt from such calamities and accordingly had no edifices of sufficient strength to withstand the force of a hurricane".

The Editor of "The West Indian" - a Barbados paper, writing about the 1831 Hurricane mentions the 1780 hurricane. He wrote:

"At dawn of day (October 10th), the wind rushing with a mighty force from the northwest.. Towards evening the storm increased, and at nine o'clock had attained its height, but it continued to rage till four next morning, when there was a temporary lull. Before day-break, the castle and forts, the church, every public building and almost every house in Bridgetown, were leveled with the earth".

It is evident that the "lull" does not correspond to the centre of the storm.

Coke in his History of the West Indies (1808) said:

"To estimate, with accuracy, the damage which the colony received in all its departments would be an impossible task. The calculation which was made soon after the mournful occasion, estimated the loss at little less than one million and a half sterling".

At St. Christopher's many vessels were forced on shore.
At St. Lucia, all the barracks and huts for His Majesty's troops and other buildings in the island, were blown down, and the ships driven to sea; only two houses were left standing in the town.
At Dominica, they suffered greatly.
At. St. Vincent, every building was blown down and the town destroyed.
At Grenada, nineteen sail of loaded Dutch ships were stranded and beaten to pieces.
At Martinique, all the ships that were bringing troops and provisions were blown off the island. In the town of St. Pierre, every house was blown down and more than 1000 people perished. The number of people who perished in Martinique was said to be 9000.
At. St. Eustatia, the loss was very great. Between 4000 and 5000 persons are said to have lost their lives.
Millas estimates that the hurricane developed in the Atlantic possibly in the vicinity of 12°N and 38°W. It moved westward very slowly at little more than 6 nautical miles per hour. When its centre was about 120 nautical miles east of Barbados, it began to curve and move between West by North and West-Northwest. After crossing a very short distance north of Barbados, it took a more North-Westerly track passing East of St. Lucia, Southwest of St. Kitts, South of Puerto Rico changing course for Mona Island, recurving and passing East of the Turks Islands, recurving to pass South East of Bermuda, moving North-East.

The hurricane season of 1780 was one of great activity with the first storm occurring on June 13.

[MiamiensisWx]

Following article from CDERA - Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency:
http://www.cdera.org/cunews/news/saint_lucia/article_1314.php

Saint Lucia
NEMO remembers the great hurricane of 1780
By NEMO Secretariat
Fri, 7 Oct 2005, 15:55

The greatest of all Hurricanes occurred from October 10 - 16, 1780. as the storm hit virtually every island from Tobago in the south east through the Leeward Islands across to Hispaniola. The death toll was 4,500 in Barbados, 9,000 in Martinique and 4,500 in St. Eustatius. [Source: Disaster Mitigation Guidelines by PAHO] .and so we remember the 225th Anniversary of the GREAT Hurricane, where so many died.

The following article is by Dr. Colin Depradine, the Principal of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). (The article was originally published in "The Advisory", The 35th Anniversary Edition of the CIMH, 2002.)

The Great Hurricane of October 10, 1780, is arguably, the most destructive hurricane to have struck Barbados and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean. It is estimated that 22,000 persons lost their lives in Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Martinique.

The following quotation from a book by Reclus (1873) gives an approximate idea of the violence of this storm:

"Starting from Barbados, where neither trees nor dwellings were left standing, it caused the English fleet anchored off St. Lucia to disappear and completely ravaged this island, where 6000 persons were crushed under the ruins. After this, the whirlwind tending toward Martinique, enveloped a convoy of French transports, and sunk more than 40 ships carrying 4000 soldiers; on land, the town of St. Pierre and other places ere completely razed by the rind, and 9000 persons perished there. More to the north, Dominique, St. Eustatius, St. Vincent (?) and Porto Rico were likewise devastated and most of the vessels which were on the path of the cyclone foundered, with all their crews. Beyond Porto Rico, the tempest bent to the north-east, toward the Bermudas and though its violence had gradually diminished, it sunk several English warships returning to Europe."

The following quotation is from a letter from Sir George Rodney to Lady Rodney dated at St. Lucia, December 10, 1780 on the effects of the storm on Barbados:

"The strongest buildings and the whole of the houses, most of which were stone, and remarkable for their solidity, gave way to the fury of the wind, and were torn up to their foundations; all the forts destroyed, and many of the heavy cannon carried upwards of a hundred feet from the forts. Had I not been an eyewitness, nothing could have induced me to have believed it. More than six thousand persons perished, and all the inhabitants are entirely ruined."

Some indication of the violence of the storm can be gleaned from a letter from Dr. Gilbert Blane, in Barbados, to Dr. Hunter in which he writes.

".........what will give as strong an idea of the force of the wind as anything, many of them (of the trees) were stripped of their bark".

Dr. Jose Millas writes that in hurricanes in which the wind has reached 200 miles an hour in the most severe gusts, this phenomenon has not been mentioned. In the Havana hurricane of October 18, 1944 the maximum wind velocity was measured at 163 miles an hour and the bark of the trees remained in tact. He suggests that tiny water bullets would have to reach the trees with a very, very great velocity so as to be able to strip them of their bark. Probably that velocity must be greater than 200 miles an hour.

Major -General Cunninghame, Governor of Barbados, in his account of the Hurricane at Barbados wrote:

"The armory was leveled to the ground, and the arms scattered about. The buildings were all demolished; for so violent was the storm here, when assisted by the sea, that a 12 pounder gun was carried from the south to the north battery, a distance of 140 yards.. The loss to this country is immense: many years will be required to retrieve it".

The following quotation from a paper by Dr. Gilbert Blane in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is instructive:

"There had been nothing that could be called a hurricane felt at Barbados for more than a century before 1780, so that the inhabitants began to think themselves exempt from such calamities and accordingly had no edifices of sufficient strength to withstand the force of a hurricane".

The Editor of "The West Indian" - a Barbados paper, writing about the 1831 Hurricane mentions the 1780 hurricane. He wrote:

"At dawn of day (October 10th), the wind rushing with a mighty force from the northwest.. Towards evening the storm increased, and at nine o'clock had attained its height, but it continued to rage till four next morning, when there was a temporary lull. Before day-break, the castle and forts, the church, every public building and almost every house in Bridgetown, were leveled with the earth".

It is evident that the "lull" does not correspond to the centre of the storm.

Coke in his History of the West Indies (1808) said:

"To estimate, with accuracy, the damage which the colony received in all its departments would be an impossible task. The calculation which was made soon after the mournful occasion, estimated the loss at little less than one million and a half sterling".

At St. Christopher's many vessels were forced on shore.
At St. Lucia, all the barracks and huts for His Majesty's troops and other buildings in the island, were blown down, and the ships driven to sea; only two houses were left standing in the town.
At Dominica, they suffered greatly.
At. St. Vincent, every building was blown down and the town destroyed.
At Grenada, nineteen sail of loaded Dutch ships were stranded and beaten to pieces.
At Martinique, all the ships that were bringing troops and provisions were blown off the island. In the town of St. Pierre, every house was blown down and more than 1000 people perished. The number of people who perished in Martinique was said to be 9000.
At. St. Eustatia, the loss was very great. Between 4000 and 5000 persons are said to have lost their lives.
Millas estimates that the hurricane developed in the Atlantic possibly in the vicinity of 12°N and 38°W. It moved westward very slowly at little more than 6 nautical miles per hour. When its centre was about 120 nautical miles east of Barbados, it began to curve and move between West by North and West-Northwest. After crossing a very short distance north of Barbados, it took a more North-Westerly track passing East of St. Lucia, Southwest of St. Kitts, South of Puerto Rico changing course for Mona Island, recurving and passing East of the Turks Islands, recurving to pass South East of Bermuda, moving North-East.

The hurricane season of 1780 was one of great activity with the first storm occurring on June 13.

Very amazing... I have a feeling this was likely at or near a Category Five (if so, likely around 175MPH sustained) at peak intensity just before hitting Barbados, likely as a high-end Category Four (155MPH sustained) or Category Five (if so, likely around 165MPH to 170MPH/175MPH sustained).

It is evident that the "lull" does not correspond to the centre of the storm.

I think that must have been the eye brushing Barbados, because it was reported that the wind came from the opposite direction after the lull by Alexander Hamilton.

Truly an amazing storm.

[jdray]

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/history/index.html

Year: 1780

Date(s): 14-19 October

Principle Affected Area(s): Northeast Florida coastal waters - not counted

Landfall Point(s): Unknown, likely an offshore event.

Remarks: Apparently the series of legendary October hurricanes were making their presence felt along the northeast Florida coast. It is possible the strongest of the three, the 11-18 October “Great Hurricane”, may have come closer to the Florida peninsula than previously thought. Mr. Josiah Smith made the following report from St. Augustine, “Thursday 19th October. The weather as mentioned on Saturday, growing worse, by Sunday evening it came on to Rain and blow excessive hard, and till the evening of yesterday was a mere Gale at about N. N. E. by which means the Sea came in very heavily upon the front of the Town and raised the Tide several feet higher than common, and which ran through some of the Lanes up to the Second Street, above 150 feet from the bay...” Endnote Severe erosion occurred with this event.

It is possible the “Great Hurricane” came closer to the coast than previously realized and the pressure gradient may have been very tight along the coast. This report could also be attributed to “Solano’s Storm” in the later portion of the period.

Summary: This storm will not be counted as a hurricane, but it may be that the fringes of one, or more, of the series of “Great Hurricanes” influenced the study area.

This is from NE Florida Hurricane history research.

Same kind of confusion in St Augustine during the week or so. Was it 3 storms, 1 storm?

Combine those reports and you can get an idea of its path. Winds in St Augustine were NNE placing the storm somewhere east of St Augustine. Affecting the area Oct 13th & 14th 1780.

(quick map I made)