1881 — Aug 27, Hurricane, northeast GA, southeast SC, esp. Savannah, GA; maritime–700
–~700 Blanchard estimate.[1]
–>700 Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p. 312.[2]
— 700 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, April 2007.
–>700 CBS News. “Deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history…7. Georgia/South Carolina hurricane.”
— 700 Hebert/Jarrell/Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… Feb 1993, p. 8.
— 700 Jarrell, Mayfield, Rappaport, Landsea. The Deadliest…Hurricanes…1900-2000. 2001
— 700+ NWS Charleston, SC WFO. Tropical Cyclone History for Southeast South Carolina…
— 700 Rappaport and Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic…Cyclones… 1995.
— 400 Greely A.W. (Chief Signal Officer, United States Army). American Weather. 1888, 200.
South Carolina (>13)
— >3 Charleston. Southern Banner, Athens, GA. “Heavy Storms on the Coast.” 9-6-1881, 1.[3]
–20-40 Port Royal. Ferry house with people waiting out storm “carried away by the high tide.”[4]
— 10 Port Royal Ferry House. Philadelphia Inquirer. “Terrible Hurricane at Savannah.” 8-30-1881, 4.
Narrative Information
Greely: “August 23d-28th, 1881. Entered the United States near Savannah and followed a very unusual course to the northwestward to Minnesota. The loss of life and damage to property in Charleston, S. C., Tybee Island, and along the adjacent coast were very great. About four hundred persons lost their lives, and hundreds of houses were totally destroyed. The loss of property is estimated at over one and one half millions of dollars. A similar storm passed over Charleston August 23d, 24th, 1885, where damage to the extent of nearly two millions of dollars was done, and twenty-one lives were lost.” (Greely A.W. (Chief Signal Officer, USA). American Weather. 1888, 200.)
NWS Charleston SC WFO: “1881 Aug 27-28. Landfall just south of Savannah, GA as a Cat 2 hurricane with winds ~105 mph before moving west into central GA and weakening into a TS. Produced significant surge flooding (~15 feet surge in Beaufort), much property/crop damage and 700+ deaths.” (National Weather Service, Charleston, SC Weather Forecast Office. Tropical Cyclone History for Southeast South Carolina and Northern Portions of Southeast Georgia (webpage). 8-18-2019 update.)
Sandrik and Landsea on Aug 27, 1881 Hurricane:
“Principle Affected Area(s):Upper Georgia – hurricane
Upper Georgia coastal waters – hurricane
Lower Georgia – tropical storm
Lower Georgia coastal waters – hurricane
Northeast Florida coastal waters – hurricane
“Landfall Point(s): Between St. Simons Island and Savannah. Most likely made landfall on Ossabaw Island [about 22 miles southeast of Savannah]
“Remarks: Partagas and Diaz/HURDAT Storm 5,1881. A very destructive and somewhat over-looked storm. Caused much destruction and killed 335 at Savannah. Dunn and Miller report over 700 killed. Savannah lowest barometer 29.08 inches/985 mb at 9:20 PM. The wind instrument blew away at 80 mph. This was likely a very tight storm with maximum winds just south of the reporting station. Using Ho’s equation a RMW of 15 nm, Tybee’s pressure of 985 mb, an outer pressure of 1010 mb, and a distance from Tybee of 15 nm yields a central pressure of 970 mb at the time of landfall. Based on modern storm surge modeling , a category two storm making landfall at the time of high tide could inundate large portions of Tybee, Skidaway, Isle of Hope and Whitemarsh Islands. This is may be an example of the worst possible case for a category two event being realized. The storm turned sharply toward the west and may have been deepening on landfall. The moon phase was waxing having been full on the 24th. Maximum wind at Jacksonville 30 mph, but Violent gales reported offshore.
“Summary: Possibly a major storm near Savannah but more likely a Cat two.”
(Sandrik and Landsea. Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899 (webpage) May 2003 update.)
Newspapers
Aug 29: “Washington, August 29. — The hurricane which entered South Carolina nad Georgia Saturday morning, instead of recurring to the northeastward, has pursued with diminishing energy a track nearly to the northwest, and is now central near Memphis, Tenn. This track is very unusual for storms north of latitude 30. Fortunately no further danger need now bew apprehended from it. Charleston reports that the gale was the severest since 1873, but the timely warning saved the shipping. This storm was more severe at Savannah, which was nearer the storm centre. The signal office in that city was unroofed. The highest recorded velocity was sixty miles, and later estimated velocities were from seventy to eighty miles.” (Boston Daily Globe. “That Hurricane.” 8-28-1881, p. 8, col. 2.)
Aug 29: “Augusta, Ga., August 29.–A terrific hurricane visited Savannah on Saturday night. The velocity of the wind was about eighty miles an hour. Early in the evening the Signal Service Office was unroofed and the instruments destroyed. A portion of the roof of the Morning News office was blown off and the building flooded. The City Exchange was badly damaged. A number of firms on the bay lost heavily. About fifty private dwellings were more or less injured. The sheds on the new wharf of the Baltimore Steamship line were blown entirely down. Several flour and rice mills were unroofed and their contents flooded. A large portion of the city was under water for several hours.
“The Central railroad wharves were badly damaged. The public parks were denuded of some of their finest trees and otherwise injured. The destruction of shade trees was very great. The Georgia Infirmary was wrecked and the patients barely escaped, a number being bruised by falling brick and plaster. The German brig Marie Louise, Captain Minke, had her stern badly smashed, and her rudder, bowsprit and jib-boom broken. Her sides were also injured. The pilot boat Maid of the Mist collided with a schooner and sunk, and several tug boats were injured. The steamer City of Bridgeton had a hole punched in her side.
“A house was swept down the river [Savannah], and three of the occupants, Mrs. Stokes and her two children, were drowned. Mr. Stokes barely escaped. Engineer Richard Fitzgerald, of the steamer H. B. Plant, was drowned. The loss of life among the colored people occupying little huts on rice plantations and along the river was very great.
On Tybee Island the house of Henry Solomon was blown down and the ruins caught fire. Three persons perished. The family of David Bowers, colored, comprising sever persons were drowned. A colored woman and her four children were washed away in their house. All the people at Shad Island were drowned.[5] At Fort Pulaski the officers’ quarters were flooded. The telegraph lines in Savannah are all down.
“It is apprehended that, notwithstanding the warnings given of the approaching storm, some vessels along the coast have suffered, and news of disasters will be received during the week. The storm has been very severe, and particularly dangerous to vessels, from the fact that the wind shifted frequently, blowing from the north, east, northeast, northwest and west.
“At Beaufort[6] the water house wharf was washed away, two sloops were washed under the bluff, and the streets were filled with water. At Port Royal a bridge connecting the wharf with the cotton compress was washed away, and part of the railroad track was destroyed.
“Ten negro hands of the Coosaw Mining Company returning home on Saturday night got into the ferry house of the Port Royal ferry, ten miles from town, for protection. The house was washed away with all the men, who were drowned. The is the only loss of life reported. Several pilot boats and a United States tug were washed ashore.” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Terrible Hurricane at Savannah.” 8-30-1881, p. 4.)
Aug 30: “Savannah, Ga., Aug. 30.–Every arrival continues to bring accounts of disasters by the storm. The steamer Juniata from New York, which arrived to-day, broke down at 5 P.M. on the 28th inst. She brought the crew of schooner Hannah A. Sollis, bound from Jacksonville to New York, with lumber which she took off on the 28th. The captain of the schooner was lost overboard. James G. Harris, mate of schooner Mary G. Fisher, which sailed from Philadelphia for Wilmington, N.C., laden with coal, was picked up at sea on the 29th by the steamer Santiago de Cuba and brought to this port. He was on a piece of the cabin of the schooner, and was naked and delirious when picked up. The schooner foundered on the 24th off Frying Pan shoals, and all hands lost except Harris. It is estimated that over one hundred lives have ben lost in this vicinity by the gale. Between twenty and thirty inquests have already been held. With the exception of seven, all are negroes washed off the plantations. The steamship Mararajah and a schooner are reported ashore on Sapelo bar. The pilot boat Belle picked up, sixteen miles southeast of Tybee, a raft, with the captain and six men of bark Brunswick, from Pascagoula for Boston, which foundered on Saturday; four men were lost from her.” (Boston Post. “Marine Disasters Reported.” 8-31-1881, p. 1.)
Aug 31: “Charleston, S.C., Aug. 31.–Reports received today from forty-seven rice plantations show that the injury from the storm has been very serious. Out of the whole number mentioned, three places only escaped with slight loss. The others have been entirely or almost entirely covered with salt water. Breaks are reported at over forty places and the young rice is considered a total loss. The March rice has suffered from 40 to 50 per cent. Many of the fields are still under water….
“Sixteen more inquests were held at Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday [Aug 31], on the bodies of persons drowned in the storm. This makes forty-six so far. The bodies of a white man, woman and child have been washed ashore at Tybee. Quite a number of bodies are on the plantations near the city, and the coroner will hold inquests to-morrow.” (Boston Post. “The Southern Gale.” 9-1-1881, p. 1.)
Sep 3: “….The latest accounts say it is estimated that 100 lives were lost in the vicinity of Savannah alone. With the exception of seven all are negroes washed off the plantations. Several small vessels were driven ashore and several lost out of their crews.” (Lowell Sun, MA. “Terrible Tempest–One Hundred Lives Lost.” 9-3-1881, p. 5, col. 2.)
Sources
Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, and Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Cyclones From 1851 to 2006. Miami, FL: National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, April 15, 2007 update, 45 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml
Boston Daily Globe. “That Hurricane.” 8-28-1881, p. 8, col. 2. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-aug-29-1881-p-8/
Boston Post. “Marine Disasters Reported.” 8-31-1881, p. 1. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-aug-31-1881-p-1/
Boston Post. “The Southern Gale.” 9-1-1881, p. 1. Accessed 8-30-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-sep-01-1881-p-1/
CBS News. “Deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history…7. Georgia/South Carolina hurricane.” Accessed 8-30-2019 at: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/deadliest-hurricanes-worst-in-the-us-list/25/
Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.
Greely A.W. (Chief Signal Officer, United States Army). American Weather: A Popular Exposition of the Phenomena of the Weather, Including Chapters on Hot and Cold Waves, Blizzards, Hail-Storms and Tornadoes. NY: Dodd, Meade & Co., 1888. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=nKMMAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Hebert, Paul J., J.D. Jarrell, Max Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Feb 1993, 41 pages.
Jarrell, Jerry D., Max Mayfield, Edward N. Rappaport, Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes From 1900 to 2000 (And Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts) (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-1). Miami, FL: NOAA NWS and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, October 2001 Update. Accessed at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/index.html
Lowell Sun, MA. “Terrible Tempest–One Hundred Lives Lost.” 9-3-1881, p. 5, col. 2. Accessed 8-30-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lowell-sun-sep-03-1881-p-5/
National Weather Service, Charleston, SC Weather Forecast Office. Tropical Cyclone History for Southeast South Carolina and Northern Portions of Southeast Georgia (webpage). 8-18-2019 update. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://www.weather.gov/chs/TChistory
Philadelphia Inquirer. “A Ferry House Carried Away and Several Persons Drowned.” 8-30-1881, p.4. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-aug-30-1881-p-4/
Philadelphia Inquirer. “Terrible Hurricane at Savannah.” 8-30-1881, p. 4. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-aug-30-1881-p-4/
Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf
Sandrik, Al and Christopher W. Landsea. Chronological Listing of Tropical Cyclones affecting North Florida and Coastal Georgia 1565-1899 (webpage) May 2003 update. Accessed 8-29-2019 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/history/index.html
[1] While we generally accept the notations of 700 deaths, we presume that such a large round number must be an approximation. Thus, we add an approximation sign (~) to the 700 number.
[2] From Table 28 “Tropical Cyclones in the South Atlantic States — Carolinas and Georgia.” Described as “Major” in intensity and impacting GA and SC, with “Over 700 killed.”
[3] Our number based on statement that “several lives lost.” Convert to three or more in order to contribute to tally.
[4] “The number actually drowned is uncertain, as the rumors conflict, varying the number from twenty to forty.” Philadelphia Inquirer. “A Ferry House Carried Away and Several Persons Drowned.” 8-30-1881, p. 4. Notes that seven bodies thus far recovered. [Blanchard note: do not use this number in tally. Appears high in light of other reporting.]
[5] We are unsure of location. The Shad River connects to Bull River in the tidal area east of Savannah, to the east of Wilmington River and the west of Little Tybee Island.
[6] SC coastal island to the northeast of Savannah.