4 –28-33

lornajarrettblanchard October 11, 1893

–32 Blanchard estimated death toll. (See sources and notes below.)
— 3 FL
— 4 NY
— 4 NC
–22 SC
–28 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995, p.25.

Florida ( 3)
— 3 Jupiter. Three bodies washed up onshore.

Georgia (~40)
–~40 Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1. (Find no substantiation.)

New York ( 4)
— 3 Buffalo. Roof of Western NY and PA freight house blown off and wall fall, killing boys.
— 1 Buffalo. Man blown into Niagara River and drowned.

North Carolina ( 4)*
–22 Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). 2001, p. 49.
–22 NWS, Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. Top 20 Storms in Wilmington, [NC’s] History.
–2 Sampson County. Tree falls on house; two children crushed to death.
–22 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p.312.
— 4 Kernersville. Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1.

*Blanchard note: I find it somewhat suspicious that the loss of life in NC (22) is identical to the loss of life noted for SC. We have been able to find detail on 19 of the 22 SC deaths, but only 4 of the NC deaths. We harbor the suspicion that the original source for the three secondary sources noted above conflated North Carolina and South Carolina deaths.

South Carolina ( 22)
–22 Letter of Gen. E.P. Alexander of Georgetown in Monthly Weather Review, 1893, in Ho.
–19 Magnolia Beach (south of Huntington Beach State park; north of Litchfield by the sea).
–15 Jordan, Dukes, Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P. 32.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1893 Oct. 13 Carolinas Major 22 killed in N.C.”
(Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). 1964, p. 312.)

Ho: “10. Hurricane of October 13, 1893…Introduction

“This late season hurricane originated near the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. During the first 10 days of its life cycle the path of the storm was not clearly determined due to confusing reports received at Antilles, Antigua and Dominica. The location of the storm was, however, reported by the steamer Ciudad Condal which moved within 30-70 miles of the storm center during October 11-12. A low pressure of 729 millimeter (972 mb) was recorded by the steamer on the 13th when the storm was about 30 miles southeast of the vessel (Monthly Weather Review, U.S. Weather Bureau 1893). Another low pressure of 28.40 in. (961.6 mb) was reported by Captain Kirwan of the steamship Wm Lawrence on the 13th when the steamer was located somewhere between the Frying Pan shoals [off Cape Fear, NC] and Charleston, SC, (The Morning News, Savannah, GA, October 15, 1893).

“The hurricane passed over the entrance to Winyah Bay [southeast of Georgetown, SC] and crossed the South Carolina coast near Myrtle Beach… A low pressure of 28.33 in. 959.2 mb) was observed at South Island at 1000 on the 13th. After crossing the coast, the center of the storm moved northward at a faster sped passing over Raleigh, NC. The October hurricane was similar to Hurricane Hazel of 1954, except that its path was a little more to the west and the damage was not quite as severe.

“The highest wind in this storm was 94 mph reported at Southport, NC. In the Wilmington, NC, area, the tide and high water were reported as the highest known to date, being 16 in. above the high-water mark of 1853. At South Island, near Winyah Bay, SC, the maximum recorded wind was 90 mph from the northeast and a high tide of 9.3 ft MSL was reported in the Monthly Weather Review (U.S. Weather Bureau 1893).

10.2 Data Summary

“The most informative excerpt and selected meteorological data are listed below:

The Sunday News, Charleston, SC, October 15, 1893

Jacksonville, FL, October 13 – The wind and rain broke upon the city (of St. Augustine) about 8 o’clock Wednesday night, and raged with fury for nearly twenty-four hours. The waters of the Matanzas River on the east swept over the sea wall and met those of the San Sebastian from the west, and wharves, warehouses, bath houses, steamers and small craft went crashing together down the stream and to the sea.

Jacksonville, FL, October 14 – Tidings of damages by the storm along the east coast of Florida re just beginning to come in. All along the Indian and Hillsboro Rivers the wind reached a velocity of sixty miles an hour. Towns along the banks were flooded, wharves swept away and houses unroofed, and from 10 to 15 percent of the orange crop was blown from the trees.

The Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, October 15, 1893

“Columbia, SC, October 14 – A special (dispatch) to the State from Georgetown tells a terrible story of devastation and death wrought by the hurricane in and around that city and the adjacent Sea Islands. The entire water-front of Georgetown was flooded, and much damage was done to merchandise stored in warehouses.

At Magnolia Beach almost every house was washed away and thirteen white and six colored people were drowned. A number escaped by taking refuge in trees….

“….The following extract comes from a letter by Gen. E.P. Alexander of Georgetown, SC, reproduced in the Monthly Weather Review (U.S. Weather Bureau 1893):

The gale of 1822, September 27 and 28, is the most memorable of all prior to 1893….by comparison it appears that the high water of October 13-14 exceed that of September, 1822, and also that of August 28, 1881, by nearly 3 feet. It exceeded that of August 27, 1893, by at least 2 feet, 4 inches. I have had a level taken from the inside of the North Island lighthouse tower, where the water mark is least likely to be obscured by wave action, and the level reached was 11.3 feet on the U.S. Engineer’s tide gauge, whose zero mark is one foot below ordinary low water, this would give 10.3 feet above ordinary low water and 6.8 above ordinary high water, which is 4.5 on that gauge. The popular report is that the water rose on Magnolia Beach, a sandy peninsula about 25 miles northeast of Georgetown, 6 feet above the August gale, but this needs to be verified by an expert….The total loss of life in this vicinity in the October storm is 22 and the loss of property at least $350,000….”

(Ho. “Hurricane of October 13, 1893.” Section 10 in: Ho, Francis P. Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. Silver Spring, MD: Water Management Information Division, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service, March 1989, pp. 54-57.)

Jordan: “1893 Oct. 13 (2) Second major storm of the season; gale winds SE 60 mph (Charleston); major impact in Georgetown district and northward, where storm surge topped 13 feet and 15 people died, largely by drowning.” (Jordan, Laylon Wayne, with Robert Dukes, Jr. and Ted Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. Undated, p. 32. )

Rappaport and Partagas: “234. [No. in list of 250] South Carolina, Florida 11-13 Oct 1893 28 [lives lost].”

U.S. Army Signal Corps: “….At Jupiter, Fla. (26 [degrees] 56’ N.), rapidly falling barometer and north winds backing to northwest began on October 11th. Heavy rain began 9.27 p.m., 11th, ending 1.22 p.m.., 12th. The wind reached a maximum velocity of 72 miles from the west at midnight, 11th, to 3 a.m., 12th. Great damage was done to docks, vessels, crops, and houses. Three bodies were washed ashore in this vicinity. For many miles along the Indian River the sea broke over the peninsula, raising the river to a point never before attained. Orange groves on Indian River were injured and great damage was done to farms. From Titusville to Lake Worth (26 [degrees] 40’ N.), a distance of 150 miles, nearly all docks were washed away.

“At Melbourne, Fla…the water was several feet higher than it has been for several years; the storm was by far the worst since the great gale of 1880.

“The observer at Titusville, Fla….reports as follows:

October 11th at 8 p.m., was blowing at the rate of 52 miles steady, with a maximum of 60 miles. As the night advanced the conditions became more threatening. At 12.05 a.m. the anemometer cups were blown away, and there were several heavy squalls during the night that mast have been between 80 and 90 miles per hour. Rain began 9:10 p.m. of 11th, and at 8 a.m. of 12th the amount in the gauges measured 2.20 inches. The continued north and northwest winds drove the water back from the western shore of the Indian River farther than ever before. At the end of the steamboat dock, where there is generally 6 to 8 feet of water, the bed was perfectly dry for about ¼ of a mile…. One house was blown down and several small buildings moved from their foundations, and great damage to electric wires. The orange crop is badly damaged…two small steamers and a sailing vessel were wrecked and several docks blown away. Great damage was done to shipping.”

(United States Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXI, No. 10, October 1893.)

VanZandt and Magee: “The year 1893 was a year of hurricanes. This Atlantic hurricane season was unusual not only in the number of storms but in their size and power. It was the third most energetic Atlantic hurricane season ever recorded (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration [NOAA] 2009a) with a total of 12 tropical storms, 10 of which became hurricanes (NOAA 2009b). Out of these 10 hurricanes, 5 became major hurricanes of at least category 3 (sustained winds between 111-130 mph / 178-209 kph), including one that became a category 4 storm (sustained winds between 131-155 mph / 210-249 kph) (NOAA 2009b)….

“…Hurricane No. 9, or the “North and South Carolina Hurricane,”…was noteworthy that year for its longevity and power displayed. It ties Hurricane Carrie of 1957 for being the fourth longest duration Atlantic hurricane, both of which lasted 20.75 days (NOAA 2009g). According to the NOAA Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) scale, Hurricane No. 9 is calculated to have had a value of approximately 65, making it an extremely energetic storm with more energy than the entire yearly total for many hurricane seasons (NOAA 2009a). Although it was only a category 3 hurricane with winds measuring up to 120 mph (193 kph) (NOAA 2009h), its extreme persistence at this level ensures its status as one of the most energetic Atlantic storms in history. This persistence also resulted in this hurricane extending its destruction and damage far inland to communities that normally would not experience the effects of adverse tropical weather. According to its reconstructed position and intensity…based on historic and computational data, Hurricane No. 9 started as a tropical storm off the Cape Verde Islands near Africa on 25 Sept. 1893 (NOAA 2009b). Within three days it turned into a category 1 hurricane (NOAA 2009h). On 1 October 1893 it became a category 2 hurricane, and a day later it became a category 3 hurricane (NOAA 2009h). From 2 October 1893 until 10 October 1893, the storm took a…track north of the Caribbean far away from any islands or land, building in size and intensity. Finally, on 11 October 1893 it passed north of the Bahamas, and the next day it approached the Florida coastline before swinging north to skirt the Georgia and South Carolina coasts 50-100 miles (80-161 km) offshore (NOAA 2009b). Its passing off the coastline caused severe flooding Fernandez-Partagas 1996) due to the ground in that area having been previously saturated by storms earlier in the season (NOAA 2009b). It finally came ashore on Friday morning, 13 October 1893, near Charleston, South Carolina. For a remarkable 11 days this hurricane had remained a category 3 (NOAA 2009h)….

“When Hurricane No. 9 came ashore, it immediately started to weaken and became a category 1 hurricane when it reached the middle of North Carolina. Although weakened, it still produced very strong winds, between 75-90 mph (121-145 kph), and amazingly persisted as a category 1 hurricane as it passed inland away from the coast (NOAA 2009h). Many inland communities in
central Virginia were ravaged as the storm continued on a northern path, and on Friday evening it passed 60 miles (97 km) west of Washington, DC (NOAA 2009b). At this point it was still a category 1 hurricane with winds measuring 75 mph (121 kph) (NOAA 2009h), and the storm’s intensity prevented the members of the Senate from leaving the Capitol building due to the high winds and rain (The Atlanta Constitution 1893:1).

“The period of Saturday, 14 October 1893, through Sunday, 15 October 1893, became known as the Great Storm of 1893 in the Great Lakes region. This storm was the remnant of Hurricane No. 9, which affected the entire region and caused great damage on both land and water. One of the hardest hit cities was Buffalo, New York, at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Newspapers of the
day recounted how the streets were deserted and how those who ventured outside were blown off their feet (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1). One unfortunate individual was blown into the Niagara River and drowned (The Cleveland Leader 1893a:1).

(VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Pp. 218-226 in 2010 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology.)

Newspapers

Oct 12, Savannah Morning News: “A hurricane equally as severe as that which swept the Georgia and South Carolina coast on the night of Aug 27 is moving rapidly in this direction. It was central off Titusville, Fla., last night and at the present rate of progress the center will reach here late this afternoon. The wind reached a velocity of 56 miles an hour at Titusville yesterday, eight miles more than was recorded in the August cyclone.

“The storm signals have been ordered up along the entire southern coast. Weather Observer Smyth notified the steamship lines and the masters of all outgoing vessels last night of the approach of the hurricane and warned them not to leave port. Incoming vessels yesterday reported the heaviest swell known on Tybee bar. The towboat companies got their vessels in readiness last night and the Atlantic Contracting Company sent large forces of men to the dredges at work down the river to get them in shelter.

“While the storm center is not due until late this afternoon, the force of the storm will be felt early in the day. The wind began blowing in gusts last night. Observer Smyth said at midnight that by daylight this morning the storm will begin to be felt with more or less severity….

“It passed Key West yesterday, and is now moving rapidly up the coast. Jupiter was cut off from telegraphic communication last night, and no reports were received by the weather bureau except from Titusville. The velocity of the wind there at 8 o’clock was fifty-two miles an hour. The storm center may be yet 200 miles at sea, but approaching the coast rapidly. As soon as Observer Smyth noted the conditions here he notified the bureau at Washington, and the storm signals were hoisted at all stations on the Georgia and South Carolina and North Carolina coasts….” (Morning News, Savannah, GA. “Another Cyclone Coming. Sweeping Northward Off the Eastern Coast of Florida.” 10-12-1895, p. 8.)

Oct 13, Goshen Daily News, IN: “Jacksonville, Fla., Oct 13. – One of the most terrible wind and rain storms ever known here is now raging along the Florida coast extending inland about fifty miles. The storm is a regular West Indian cyclone, and has been felt in this vicinity during the last two days, gradually increasing in severity. Reports received Thursday morning from Key West say that the storm passed over that city Tuesday and Wednesday, doing much damage. Reports from Titusville are that the storm passed over that place in a northwesterly direction, blowing 60 miles per hour. All communication with places south of here has been cut off by wires being blown down, and great fears are entertained that Titusville and many other places on the coast have suffered greatly from loss of life.

“Reports from St. Augustine are to the effect that the city is partially submerged by water backing over the sea wall….” (Goshen Daily News, IN. “Cyclone in Florida.” 10-13-1893, p. 4.)

Oct 13, The News, Frederick, MD: “Savannah, Oct. 13. – Savannah is in the teeth of a storm which threatens to equal in intensity that of Aug. 27, which swept the entire Georgia and South Carolina coast. All vessels in the harbor have sought shelter and safe anchorages. The Boston steamship Gate City, which was to have sailed last night, will remain until the storm has passed. In the city little damage has yet been done.

“Jacksonville, Fla., Oct 13 – The storm reached its height here at 2:15 yesterday afternoon, the velocity of the wind being forty-wight miles an hour. This indicates that the storm here will prove less severe than expected.

“Charleston, Oct. 13. – The wind is blowing in gusts at forty miles an hour, but no damage has been done beyond the prostration of telegraph and telephone wires. It is thought that the tide may flood some of the streets, but no serious overflow is feared.” (The News, Frederick, MD: “Another Cyclone South.” 10-13-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 14, Washington Bee: “Loss. The wind attained the force of a hurricane at Savannah, Ga., on Monday. Fully $10,000,000 worth of property was destroyed, and it is estimated that forty persons were killed. Many buildings were demolished, and shipping in the harbor suffered great loss.

“The town of Kernersville, in Forsyth County, N.C., was struck by the cyclone and 100 houses were blown down. Four bodies had at last accounts been taken from the ruins, and at least fifty persons were more or less injured. Kernersville is eighteen miles west of Greensborough, on the Northwestern North Carolina Railroad, had has a population of about 700. Every house in the town was either wholly or partly demolished.

“Rumors of many other disasters in small towns from Georgia to Virginia have been received.

“Details of loss of life and destruction of property are also received from Brunswick, Ga., and points further south along the coast.” (Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 16: “Columbia, S.C., Oct. 16. – A special to The State from Georgetown, S.C., tells a terrible story of devastation and death wrought by the hurricane in and around the city and on the adjacent sea islands. The entire water front of Georgetown was flooded and much damage was done to merchandise stored in warehouses. The white people drowned at Magnolia Beach are Dr. Arthur B. Flagg and wife, his son, Dr. Arthur GB. Flaff, Jr., his wife and five children, Miss Bettie Labruce, Miss Alice Labruce, and the two Misses Weston daughters of the late Bently Weston. The tide rose three feet in some of the houses on Pawleys Island, a well known resort.” (Winona Daily Republican, MN. “Thirteen Drowned. Sad Havoc of the Storm in South Carolina.” 10-16-1893, p. 1.)

Oct 18, Wilson Mirror, NC: “The storm here last Friday afternoon [13th] was the severest that has yet visited this section. For the whole afternoon the storm raged most furiously. Tin from the roofs of quite a number of buildings was ripped off and sent whirling. Those which suffered most were the Cotton Mills, Briggs and Branchs prize houses near the old depot, T. J. Hadlys prize house near the Primitive Baptist church, Roundtree and Lamm’s stores. Fencing and crops were considerably damaged in the country….” (Wilson Mirror, NC. “The Storm.” 10-18-1893, p. 5.)

Sources

Barnes, Jay. North Carolina’s Hurricane History (Third Edition). University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Boston Sunday Post. “After The Blow…Fatalities in Buffalo.” 10-15-1893, p. 4. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-oct-15-1893-p-8/

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Goshen Daily News, IN. “Cyclone in Florida.” 10-13-1893, p. 4. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/goshen-daily-news-oct-13-1893-p-4/

Ho, Francis P. “Hurricane of October 13, 1893.” Section 10, pp. 54-59 in: Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. Silver Spring, MD: Water Management Information Division, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service, March 1989. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/owp/oh/hdsc/docs/TM43A.pdf

Jordan, Laylon Wayne, with Robert Dukes, Jr. and Ted Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. Charleston, SC: The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. Undated. Accessed 8-16-2022 at: https://www.scseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/South-Carolina-Hurricane-History-1980.pdf

Mayes, Douglas Owen. “A Reanalysis of Five 19th Century South Carolina Major Hurricanes Using Local Data Sources.” Master’s Thesis, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, 2006, p.73. Accessed 8-22-2022 at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.409.6528&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Morning News, Savannah, GA. “Another Cyclone Coming. Sweeping Northward Off the Eastern Coast of Florida.” 10-12-1893, p. 8. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-morning-news-oct-12-1893-p-8/

National Weather Service, Wilmington Weather Forecast Office. Top 20 Storms in Wilmington, North Carolina’s History. “Storm #20: 1893 ‘Charleston Hurricane.’” Accessed 8-21-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/ilm/Top_20_Storms

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

The News, Frederick, MD: “Another Cyclone South.” 10-13-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/news-oct-13-1893-p-1/

United States Army Signal Corps. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. XXI, No. 10, October 1893. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1893.pdf

VanZandt, David Michael and Kevin Scott Magee. “The Great Storm of 1893 and the Schooner Riverside.” Pp. 218-226 in 2010 Underwater Archaeology Proceedings, Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology. Accessed 8-21-2022 at: http://www.clueshipwrecks.org/PDFs/The_Great_Storm_of_1893_and_the_Schooner_Riverside_ACUA_Reprint.pdf

Washington Bee, DC. “Loss.” 10-14-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-washington-bee-oct-14-1893-p-1/

Wilson Mirror, NC. “The Storm.” 10-18-1893, p. 5. Accessed 8-22-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilson-mirror-oct-18-1893-p-5/

Winona Daily Republican, MN. “Thirteen Drowned. Sad Havoc of the Storm in South Carolina.” 10-16-1893, p. 1. Accessed 8-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/winona-daily-republican-oct-16-1893-p-1/