1906 – Sep 27, Hurricane, Mobile County AL/>109, Pensacola FL/>39, MS/>4 — >152
Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard, June 2014, modified Aug 2017 and Jan 2020, for website: Deadliest American Disasters and Large-Loss-Of-Life Events. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–152-296 Blanchard tally from State breakouts below.
–109-161 Alabama
— 39 – 57 Florida
— 4 – 78 Mississippi
— 134 Bevin update. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996. 1997.[1]
— 134 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, April 2007.
— 134 Hebert, Jarrell and Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… 1993, p. 80.
— 134 Jarrell et al. The Deadliest, Costliest…Most Intense [US] Hurricanes…1900 to 2000. 2001.
— 134 NWS Mobile/Pensacola Weather Forecast Office. September 27th Hurricane of 1906.
— 134 NWS, New Orleans. Top Weather Events of…20th Century within the NWSFO…, 2008.
— 133 Garriott. “The Caribbean Sea Storm of Sept. 23-37, 1906,” MWR, Sep 1906, p. 418-423.
— 1 Mobile; p. 422.
–~100 Mobile County southern coast; p. 422.
— 32 Pensacola, p. 419.
Maritime component (included in Blanchard total tally): (15)
–3 Schooner Agnes. Bayou La Batre, AL. Bureau of Nav. “Loss of American vessels…” p. 374.
–1 Schooner Ethel founders, Heron Bay, AL, Sep 27. Bureau of Navigation 1907, p. 375.
–1 Schooner Margrette B strands, Point of Pines, AL, Sep 27. Bureau of Navigation 1907, 376.
–2 Schooner Two Friends founders, Heron Bay, AL. Bureau of Navigation 1907, p. 378.
–7 Schooner William H. Warren founders, St. Joseph Point, FL. Bureau of Nav., p. 378.
–1 Schooner Daisy strands, Horn Island, MS, Sep 26, Bureau of Navigation, p. 375.
Breakout of Fatalities by State
Alabama (109-161)
–109-161 Blanchard range based on sources below.[2]
— 150 Along the coast. Murray. “The 1906 Mobile Hurricane.” AlabamaWX Weather Blog.
— 3 Bayou La Batre, schooner Agnes. Bureau of Nav. “Loss of American vessels…” p. 374.
— 1 Heron Bay, Sep 27. Schooner Ethel founders. Bureau of Navigation 1907, p. 375.
— 2 “ “ Schooner Two Friends founders. Bureau of Navigation 1907, p. 378.
— 1 Mobile. Garriott. “The…Hurricanes of Sep…,” MWR, Sep 1906, p. 422.[3]
— 1 “ Wikipedia. “1906 Mississippi hurricane.” 4-15-2014 modification.[4]
— 2-3 “ First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile.[5]
–>150 Mobile County. First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile.
–~150 “ “ McGehee. “A hurricane to remember…storm that struck Mobile.” Bellingrath Museum.
–~125 “ “ Quincy…Herald, IL. “Unparalleled Heroism…Mobile Disaster.” 10-1-1906, 1.[6]
–~100 “ “ Garriott. “The…Hurricanes of Sep…,” MWR, Sep 1906, p. 422.
–~100 “ “ southern. NWS Mobile/Pensacola WFO. September 27th Hurricane of 1906.[7]
–23 Cedar Point, below Mobile; oystermen.[8]
— 6 Fort Morgan, Baldwin Co. Wikipedia. “1906 Mississippi hurricane.” 4-15-2014 mod.[9]
–20 Heron Bay; just southwest of Alabama Port.[10]
— 2 Point of Pines, Sep 27. Schooner Margrette B strands. Bureau of Navigation 1907, p376.
Florida (39-57)
–39-57 Florida Blanchard range.[11]
–~50 Pensacola. First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile.
— 35 “ Wikipedia. “1906 Mississippi hurricane.” 4-15-2014 modification.[12]
— 33 “ The Citizen, Frederick, MD. “100 Soldiers Perish…” 10-5-1906, p. 1.[13]
— 32 “ Barnes. Florida’s Hurricane History. University of NC Press, 1998, p. 88.
— 32 “ Garriott. “The…Hurricanes of Sep…,” MWR, Sep 1906, p. 419.[14]
— 7 St. Joseph Point. Sch. William H. Warren founders. Bureau of Nav., p. 378; Singer, 38.
Louisiana (0-~100)
–~100 Lake Borgne area. Malayan settlement. First Nat. Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights...[15]
— 0 Roth. Louisiana Hurricane History, p. 28. (Roth mentions no deaths in his document.)
Mississippi (4-78)
— 4-78 Blanchard.[16]
— State 78 Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones. 2008, p. 309.[17]
— 78 Wikipedia. “1906 Mississippi hurricane.” 4-15-2014 modification.[18]
— “Many” Biloxi. First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile.
— 6 Mississippi Sound. Washington Post. “On Mississippi Sound.” 9-30-1906, p. 3.
–3 Horn Island. Light keeper Johnston, wife and daughter swept into Gulf.[19]
–1 Horn Island, Sep 26, schooner Daisy strands. Bureau of Navigation, p. 375.
Narrative Information
General/Multi-State
Garriott: “The Caribbean Sea Storm of September 23-27, 1906. This was the severest disturbance that has visited the Gulf coast since the occurrence, on September 8, 1900, of the storm that devastated Galveston….The September, 1906, storm was first definitely located over the western portion of the Caribbean Sea on the 22d and crossed the Gulf coast line west of Mobile the morning of the 27th….The center of the storm crossed the coast line near and west of Mobile at about 8 a.m., seventy-fifth meridian time, of the 27th. East of the point where the centre crossed the coast an onshore southerly gale combined with the wave from the Gulf to drag vessels from their anchorage, and caused water damage to shore property that was not experienced west of the storm’s path, where northerly offshore winds prevailed during the period of the storm’s greatest intensity. After the 27th the strength of the storm diminished rapidly, and during its subsequent course northward over the lower and middle Mississippi Valley heavy rains fell within its area….” [p. 418]
“The storm was severe east of New Orleans, but there does not appear to have been any loss of life on the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts. The damage to property that could not be moved or protected was great. At Burwood the tide was over the wharf, which is eight feet above mean Gulf level. Railroads and crops suffered great damage.” [p. 419]
(Garriott, E. B. (Professor of Meteorology). “The West Indian Hurricanes of September 1906,” Monthly Weather Review, September 1906, pp. 418-419.)
Library of Congress World Digital Library: “The sixth hurricane of 1906 was one of 11 hurricanes or tropical cyclones that Atlantic hurricane season. The storm made landfall on September 27, 1906, west of Biloxi, Mississippi, but wreaked its greatest damage from Mobile, Alabama to Pensacola, Florida. The Category 4 hurricane was the most destructive storm to strike the Pensacola area in 170 years. Winds in excess of 105 miles (170 kilometers) per hour stretched past the city and port of Pensacola, and Escambia Bay in the Gulf of Mexico saw a storm surge as high as 14 feet (4.3 meters). This photograph [not reproduced here] shows the damage wrought to Pensacola Harbor. Steam is still rising from the smokestack of a nearly sunken ship, and the harbor is crammed with tumbled and sagging boats and lined with collapsed warehouses and shattered docks. In the background, a wasted city of shaken buildings stretches to the horizon. The storm caused the deaths of 134 people and millions of dollars in damage in Alabama and Florida.” (Library of Congress World Digital Library. “View of the Damage from the Hurricane of 1906.” 10-22-2014 update.)
NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office: “September 27, 1906: Pascagoula, Mississippi Hurricane
“A violent hurricane moved onshore near the Pascagoula River, producing a storm surge in excess of 10 feet from Jackson County, MS to the westernmost Florida peninsula. A total of 134 lives were lost from Pascagoula to Pensacola, FL during this hurricane.” (NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office. NWX LIX – Top Ten Events of 20th Century (webpage). Slidell, LA. National Weather Service, NOAA.)
Alabama
First National Bank of Mobile: “STRIKING FURIOUSLY, a West India hurricane roared into the Gulf Coast area on September 27, 1906, and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property in Mobile County. Although only two or three deaths occurred in the city itself, the storm sent more than 150 persons to a watery grave in the nearby vicinity, principally at Sans Souci Beach, Coden, Herron Bay and Navy Cove.
“The storm began on Wednesday, September 25th with a driving rain borne on a strong northeast wind. By the evening of the 26th it was impossible to walk on the streets with umbrellas. The barometer continued to drop until it reached a record low of 28.84, fulfilling the Weather Bureau’s prediction that the storm would be centered at Mobile.
“All during Wednesday the force of the wind increased. By midnight Wednesday it was a northeast gale, and just before dawn Thursday morning it reached hurricane proportions. Daylight found the air filled with flying objects—shutters, signs, awnings, roofs, trees, timbers, and finally bricks from walls and chimneys. Communication and electrical transmission wires were leveled throughout the city.
“During the early morning hours on Thursday, the wind veered to the east, and finally to the southeast, backing up water from the bay into the river until it overflowed the wharves and flooded city streets. By 8 o’clock Thursday morning, the yellow flood had reached Royal Street on St. Michael and was running into Royal Street gutters. It came within 25 feet of Royal on St. Francis—or approximately 30 feet farther up the street than the great flood of 1893. Upper Royal Street, from St. Louis to Beauregard, was also flooded, the water backing on St. Anthony nearly to Conception, and almost as far on State and Congress streets. Water Street at that point was a surging maelstrom, with the wind driving up St. Francis Street and rousing the water in great waves at the street intersection.
“From 7:30 Thursday morning until about 10 o’clock Thursday the storm was at its height. Then the wind abated and the waters receded, allowing many persons to descend from trees which they had climbed to save their lives. By Friday morning, the storm was over and reckoning of lives lost and property damage began.
“It was found that all the lower coast had been badly washed, with fully 150 lives lost, including many fishermen of the Herron Bay oyster and fishing fleet, where only three men and one vessel of the fleet were saved. Eleven steamboats and 22 sailing vessels were wrecked, and many others damaged, in the river. The quarantine station at Fort Morgan was washed away when the waves cut a great channel entirely across the land from the bay to the gulf. Scores of vessels were wrecked in the lower bay and just outside.
“In Mobile itself, the destruction was not nearly so severe. Chief damage was caused by the flood waters, although the wind tore away parts of many buildings. Nearly every church edifice in the city was damaged to some extent: the steeple of Christ Church was blown away and the interior wrecked by falling debris; the Methodist and Baptist Churches on St. Francis Street lost their spires. The courthouse clock and tower were badly damaged, as were the Cawthon, Bienville, St. Andrew, Windsor and Southern hotels. The Old Shell Road and Garrow’s Bend were washed worse than in the storm of 1893, and great sections of other roads and streets throughout the city were scoured away. Gross damage in Mobile County was estimated at more than $15,000,000.
“The Mobile area was not the only one to be ravaged by the storm. The entire Mississippi-Louisiana coast suffered severely. Many persons lost their lives at Biloxi, and some 20 schooners and hundreds of small craft were lost at Pascagoula. The death toll at Pensacola was estimated at 50 persons, with $5,000,000 in property damage. At least 100 Malayans in a settlement on Lake Bourgne, La., were said to have been killed.
After normal conditions had been restored, the populace within the city counted itself fortunate in having withstood the hurricane so well. It was pointed out that in both the storm of 1893 and the most recent one, the city proper had proved to be relatively secure against such hurricane disaster—a fact which was later re-emphasized when an 85-mile-an-hour wind swept the city in 1916.” (First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile.)
Garriott, MWR: “Mobile, Ala.
“The storm of September 26-27 was more destructive than any other in the meteorological history of the station, involving a greater loss of property, more numerous marine disasters, and greater destruction to timber.
“The storm approached this section without any optical premonitory signs or noticeable cloud formations. Cloudy weather with stratus clouds began on the morning of the 25th, and there was occasional sunshine until about noon on the 26th; and only light rain, at times a mere drizzle, was recorded during a part of this period. On the 26th the fall in [end of p.420] barometer pressure and the increase in wind velocity, which had been gradual, became more rapid toward night. The wind, which was remarkable for the severity and suddenness of its gusts, reached a maximum velocity of 25 miles an hour between 5 and 6 p.m. and higher velocities were attained during succeeding intervals until a maximum of 55 miles, from the east, for five minutes, was reached at 7:15 a.m. of the 27th, and a single mile was made in somewhat less than a minute; after which lower velocities were recorded and no high velocities occurred after 11 a.m. ….
“The lowest reading of the barometer, 28.84 inches, was reached at 6:30 a. m….
“The rain, which was continuous from 12:05 p.m. of the 26th, at times became a heavy downpour. The amount which fell from 12:05 p.m. of the 26th to 7:20 p.m. of the 27th was 6.40 inches.
“During the morning of the 26th, the tide reached within six inches of the top of the wharf; it then receded and was one or two feet below the level of the wharf till about 6 a.m. of the 27th; a rise then began and in about half an hour the water was near the top of the wharf; by 7:45 a.m. it had come into the third street from the river, and at 10 a.m. it attained its maximum stage, exceeding by about a foot the state reached during the hurricane of 1893. During that memorable storm the water was about six feet above the wharf….Markings at the Cotton Exchange Building indicate 13 inches higher water in 1906 then in 1893….
“…About twenty building, mostly houses in the residential section of Mobile demolished. Nearly all buildings were more [end of p. 21] or less damaged. Windows were blown in, chimneys felled, tin roofs rolled up, slates and shingles ripped off so that few interiors of houses escaped damage by the rain. In some places heavy timbers were carried considerable distances. Many merchants in the wholesale district had elevated their wares, but the tide exceeded all previous stages and damaged the lowermost goods. All electric services were totally crippled, the telegraph wires being down by 3 a.m. of the 27th. The roads were made impassable by prostrated trees. There was only one life lost in Mobile. The official list of American vessels wrecked, kept at the office of the collector of customs, is not yet completed. Unofficial records of all marine disasters show that in Mobile Bay and River there were 11 steamships, 17 barks and schooners, and 4 steamboats ashore or sunk, 12 tugboats sunk, ashore, or capsized, and numerous barges and smaller craft which met a similar fate. There are also 11 steamships, barks, and many smaller vessels dismantled or otherwise damaged….
“The warnings of the Bureau prevented a greater loss of life, as nearly all vessels remained in the river. However, the storm was of so great severity that ships were torn from their moorings, collisions occurred, and the wind alone dismantled or damaged others….
“All localities in southern Alabama and southeastern Mississippi sustained great damage to property, but in the southern parts of Mobile and Baldwin counties the storm was most destructive to life and property and the damage will probably reach a million dollars. On the southern coast of Mobile County about one hundred persons lost their lives, mostly by drowning in the high tide which swept the coast….” (Garriott, E. B. (Professor of Meteorology). “The West Indian Hurricanes of September 1906,” Monthly Weather Review, September 1906, pp. 420-422.)
McGehee: “On September 27, 1906, a hurricane struck Mobile, causing more than $15 million in damage and drowning an estimated 150 people in the southern part of the county [Mobile County].
“The storm moved in on the evening of the 26th, and by the next morning, Mobilians awoke to find the air filled with flying objects – shutters, signs, roof shingles, tree branches, and even bricks from falling walls and chimneys….” (McGehee Tom (Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home). “A hurricane to remember: The tragic 1906 storm that struck Mobile.” Theodore, AL: Bellingrath Gardens and Home.)
Florida
Garriott, MWR: Pensacola, Fla.
“This was the most terrific storm in the history of Pensacola, or since the village of Pensacola, on Santa Rosa Island, was swept away 170 years ago. The greatest loss was to the shipping interests; a large number of ocean going vessels, tug boats, fishing smacks, launces, and craft of all kinds were wrecked upon the beach; the wreckage is strewn from Magnolia Bluff to the entrance of the harbor. During the early morning hours the people of the city were panic stricken, many believing that a repetition of the Galveston disaster was imminent, and large numbers of people took refuge in the higher portion of the city, braving the high-winds and stinging sand-felled rain in the hope of reaching a place of safety. When the wind reached 60 miles per hour (at 1:07 a.m.), every effort was made to protect property and life and people were driven from their homes along the water front. Trees were uprooted; houses were unroofed, and vessels in the harbor began to drag their anchors, being slowly but surely forced upon the beach. At the height of the storm (between 3 and 4 a.m.) the water rose 8½ feet above the normal high-water mark, being the highest known. The great protection afforded by Santa Rosa Island saved Pensacola from more severe suffering. The entire water front property was inundated, the water reaching many houses; some were either carried away completely or irreparably damaged. Muscogee wharf was broken in two in the middle, and the tracks on either side of the main dock were washed away. Thirty-eight coal cars which were on the wharf were washed away. A timber boom was broken and the timber cast adrift; this timber and wreckage of every description is jammed upon the beach in a torn and twisted mass. The water backed up in the low ground north of Intendencia street, where several cottages were inundated, the water in places reaching a depth of 10 feet. About the greatest havoc was wrought along West Main street, the south side of which has been completely washed away. The houses along the bay shore from Barcelona street to Perdido are in ruins and all along the shore innumerable vessels are scattered. The damage to the fishing industry alone will probably aggregate half a million dollars and that to the tow boat industry will aggregate as much more. Several wharfs are completely gone. On Palafox street from the wharf north to Wright street there is hardly a building that has escaped damage, and in many instances the losses will be heavy, as the tin roofs were blown from many and the driving rain damaged stocks to a great extent. The train service in and out of the city is completely paralyzed….From Magnolia Bluff to Milton the track is gone and a portion of Escambia Bridge is washed away. A channel was washed thru Santa Rosa Island east of the Life Saving Statin; the station itself is gone and the entire shore is a mass of ruins. Fort Barrancas is much damaged, Fort Pickens has suffered severely, and Fort McRae is completely razed, the ruins of the old fort standing alone on the shore….
“Wharfmaster Cox stated that the tide was fully ten feet above normal high tide along the city water front and twelve feet at Bayou Grande, based upon the reckonings of five reliable men. The sea swells entering the ship between Palafox and Baylen streets were from seven to twelve feet high between midnight and 7 a.m. and were about one hundred yards apart, lifting wharf timbers and boards as they rolled thru the slip and splashed over Cedar street. Oyster boats, launches, steam tugs, lighters, timbers and wreckage of all description are jammed together at the corner of Cedar and Baylen streets….Trees fully exposed to the easterly gale in all parts of the city were blown down, the chinaberry and sycamores suffering most. All weak chimneys that were broadside to the east were tumbled to the westward. Whenever the wind got under a tin roof it rolled it off….
“The total known deaths are 32….” (Garriott, E. B. (Professor of Meteorology). “The West Indian Hurricanes of September 1906,” Monthly Weather Review, September 1906, pp. 418-420.)
Singer: “A violent hurricane moved onshore near the Pascagoula River, producing a storm surge in excess of 10 feet from Jackson County, MS to the westernmost Florida peninsula. A total of 134 lives were lost from Pascagoula to Pensacola, FL during this hurricane.”[20]
Seven of the losses were aboard the Schooner William H. Warren, which foundered at St. Joseph Point, FL with all aboard. (Singer. Shipwrecks of Florida (2nd Ed.). 1998, p. 38.)
Mississippi
Roth: “September 25-26th, 1906: This hurricane moved westward through the Caribbean before turning north-northwest through the Yucatan Channel. The system made landfall at the Mouth of the Pascagoula River. Gales were experienced along the Lower Mississippi Delta. Winds gusted to 49 mph as the pressure fell to 29.15″ at New Orleans. The Lake Borgne lighthouse was most likely destroyed in this storm, though Cipra dates the destruction as occurring on the 10th(Cipra). A 24-hour rainfall record was set at Collinston for the month of August, when 4.55” accumulated on the 25th.” (Roth, David. Louisiana Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS, p. 28.)
Sources
Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Bevin, Jack. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996. April 22 1997 update of NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC 47 (The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996 by Edward N. Rappaport and Jose Fernandez-Partagas, May 28, 1995). Accessed at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadly.shtml
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
First National Bank of Mobile, Ala. Highlights of 75 Years in Mobile. Mobile: FNB, 1940, 118 pages. Transcription of the section “1906 – Hurricane Does $15,000,000 Damage” was accessed at GenDisasters.com 1-12-2020 at: http://www.gendisasters.com/alabama/14432/mobile-al-hurricane-sept-1906
Garriott, E. B. (Professor of Meteorology). “The West Indian Hurricanes of September 1906,” Monthly Weather Review, September 1906. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1906.pdf
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
Library of Congress World Digital Library. “View of the Damage from the Hurricane of 1906.” 10-22-2014 update. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/4031/
Longshore, David. “Mississippi,” p. 309 in Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (New Edition). NYC: Facts On File, Inc., an imprint of Infobase Publishing, 2008. Accessed 1-12-2020 at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=8kXwskQHBLoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
McGehee Tom (Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home). “A hurricane to remember: The tragic 1906 storm that struck Mobile.” Theodore, AL: Bellingrath Gardens and Home. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://bellingrath.org/a-hurricane-to-remember-the-tragic-1906-storm-that-struck-mobile/
Murray, Bill. “The 1906 Mobile Hurricane.” AlabamaWX Weather Blog. 9-27-2009. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.alabamawx.com/?p=23302
National Weather Service, Mobile/Pensacola Weather Forecast Office. September 27th Hurricane of 1906. Sep 2019 update. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.weather.gov/mob/1906Hurricane
National Weather Service, New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office. NWX LIX – Top Ten Events of 20th Century (webpage). Slidell, LA. National Weather Service, NOAA. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.weather.gov/lix/20thcenturytopten
National Weather Service, New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office. Top Weather Forecast Office, Weather Events of the 20th Century within the NWSFO New Orleans/Baton Rouge Service Area. Slidell, LA: NWS, NOAA, 5-22-2009 last modified. At: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lix/html/top10.htm
New York Times. “Hurricane in South Sweeps Several States…” 9-28-1906, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/09/28/101799501.html?pageNumber=1
Quincy Daily Herald, IL. “Unparalleled Heroism Amid Mobile Disaster.” 10-1-1906, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/quincy-daily-herald-oct-01-1906-p-1/
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
Roth, David. Louisiana Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS, p. 28. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/lch/events/lahurricanehistory.pdf
St. Regis Falls Adirondack News. “Fort Morgan Wrecked.” 10-6-1906, p. 2. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/saint-regis-falls-adirondack-news-oct-06-1906-p-2/
Salt Lake Herald, Salt Lake City UT. “Full Story Has Not Been Told. Harrowing Details of Havoc Wrought by Hurricane Beginning to Arrive.” 9-30-1906, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-city-herald-sep-30-1906-p-1/
Singer, Steven D. Shipwrecks of Florida: A Comprehensive Listing (2nd Ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, Inc., 1998. Partially digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=6j6kjZQReqkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false
The Citizen, Frederick, MD. “100 Soldiers Perish In Flood.” 10-5-1906, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/frederick-citizen-oct-05-1906-p-1/
United States Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce and Labor. Thirty-Ninth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States…For the Year Ended June 30, 1907. Part IV. “Loss of American Vessels Reported During Fiscal Year 1907.” Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3330071&view=1up&seq=7
Washington Post. “On Mississippi Sound.” 9-30-1906, p. 3. Accessed 1-12-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-post-sep-30-1906-p-11/
Wikipedia. “1906 Mississippi hurricane.” 4-15-2014 modification. Accessed 6-13-2014 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_Mississippi_hurricane
[1] Bevin update of document by same name by Edward N. Rappaport and Jose Fernandez-Partagas, 28 May 1995. There are two references in Appendix 1: Cyclones with 25+ deaths. The first is Hebert, P. J., J. D. Jarrell, and M. Mayfield. The deadliest, costliest, and most intense United States hurricanes of this century (Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31, 1993, 41 pages. The second is: Monthly Weather Review. U.S. Weather Bureau.
[2] The low-end of our range starts with the approximately 100 people noted as killed, “mostly by drowning in the high tide” which swept the Mobile County coast. It is variously noted that 1-3 people died in Mobile and we use one death in the low range. We add the eight maritime deaths not noted in the Monthly Weather Review in that it was written the maritime loss was unknown at the time. This adds to 115. For the high end we use the First National Bank of Mobile and McGehee estimates of 150 people dying in the Mobile County coast, plus three in Mobile, and eight deaths off the schooners Agnes, Ethel, Margrette B, and Two Friends. These total to 159.
[3] “There was only one life lost in Mobile.”
[4] Cites: New York Times. “Mobile and Pensacola Devastated by Storms.” 9-29-1906.
[5] A transcription of the section “1906 – Hurricane Does $15,000,000 Damage” was accessed at GenDisasters.com.
[6] “As Mobile emerges from the ruin caused by the great hurricane and takes stock of its losses it counts a possible 125 dead….As the bodies of the victims of the storm are washed ashore they are buried where found, with scarcely any attempts at identification.”
[7] Cites the Monthly Weather Review to the effect that “about 100 persons lost their lives, mostly by drowning in the high tide” in southern Mobile County.
[8] St. Regis Falls Adirondack News. “Fort Morgan Wrecked.” 10-6-1906, p. 2.
[9] Cites: Chicago Tribune. “Blots on Coast Mark City Sites.” 9-30-1906. Blanchard note: Fort Morgan is at the west end of a strip of land extending west into Mobile Bay and is directly to the south of Mobile. If there were deaths in this vicinity (not surprising), we speculate these would have been included in the 100-150 lives lost along the AL coast, especially in Mobile County.
[10] Quincy Daily Herald, IL. “Unparalleled Heroism Amid Mobile Disaster.” 10-1-1906, p. 1.
[11] For the low end of the range we use Garriott/MWS for Pensacola loss of thirty-two lives (though we suspect it was 33) and add seven lost from the schooner William H. Warren (for a total of 39). For the high-end we use estimate of fifty lives lost in Pensacola used by the First National Bank of Mobile book and add the seven lives lost from the William H. Warren (57).
[12] Cites: Baltimore Sun. “35 Dead at Pensacola.” 9-30-1906.
[13] “Pensacola, Fla., Oct. 3. – Three additional deaths have been reported, swelling the list to thirty-three.”
[14] “The total known deaths are 32.” (column 2, 5th line up from bottom)
[15] We have been unable to find confirmation.
[16] While six deaths were reported in the Miss. Sound, we located identification for only four, thus four is the low-end of our range. For the high end we use the number 78 used by Longshore. We note, however, we have not found supporting data, and thus this number seems suspicious to us.
[17] “In September 1906, the Pascagoula-Mobile Hurricane left 78 people dead in Mississippi…”
[18] Cites: Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (1st Ed.) Facts on File, 1998, 230.
[19] Salt Lake Herald. “Full Story Has Not Been Told. Harrowing Details of Havoc Wrought by Hurricane Beginning to Arrive.” 9-30-1906, p. 1.
[20] Cites: NWS NOLA/Biloxi WFO. Top Weather Events of 20th Century within the NWSFO…, 2008.