1928 — Sep 13, San Felipe Segundo Hurricane, Puerto Rico[1] — 312

1928 — Sep 13, San Felipe Segundo Hurricane, Puerto Rico[1]                                          —   312

—    1,000  Chicago Tribune. “1928 storm smashed dike, drowned nearly 2,000…” 2017.[2]

–300-375  Norcross. “San Filipe and Okeechobee Hurricane.” Hurricane Almanac. 2007, p. 49.

—       312  Perez. Notes on the Tropical Cyclones of Puerto Rico, 1508-1970. NWS/NOAA.

—       312  Wikipedia. “1928 Okeechobee hurricane.” 10-27-2017 edit.[3]

—       300  Fassig. “San Felipe — The Hurricane of September 13, 1928, at San Juan, P.R.” MWR.

—       300  Gunn. “Lake Okeechobee hurricane.” Encyclopedia of Disasters, Vol. 1. 2007, p. 316.

—     >300  NWS WFO, Miami. Memorial Webpage for 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane.

 

Narrative Information

 

Fassig: “On Tuesday morning, September 11, a message was received from the Weather Bureau Office in Washington announcing a tropical disturbance in latitude 1.5′ N. and longitude 50° W. There was no evidence of a disturbance on the morning map of the 11th. At 3 p. m., upon receipt of special reports, changes in wind direction at St. Lucia and Barbados were signs of an approaching tropical disturbance. At the same time a radio report to Barbados from the S. S. Inanda was intercepted by the Ensenada radio station indicating that a storm of considerable intensity was raging over the Atlantic about 300 miles east of the Leeward Islands. These were the first indications of the approach of a storm toward Porto Rico. The vessel report was incomplete making it impossible to locate the center of the storm accurately. At the time of the evening observations of the 11th the lowest barometer reading was 29.76 inches at Barbados….

 

“As September storms usually move in a west-northwest direction at an average speed of 12 to 13 miles per hour, the San Juan radio broadcast of Tuesday evening stated that the storm would move west-northwest and that the center would probably pass south of the Island of Porto Rico Wednesday night or Thursday morning. This information was broadcast from the naval radio station at San Juan every 2 hours from 8 p. m. Tuesday night. The warning was telegraphed to the 75 police districts of Porto Rico and otherwise given general distribution over the island. Observations from the Lesser Antilles on Wednesday morning still indicated that the vortex of the storm would pass at some distance south of Porto Rico. Information contained in the 6 p.m. observations of Wednesday the 12th indicated that the storm was centered farther northward than was anticipated and that the center would probably pass directly over the Virgin Islands and Porto Rico. This information was given prompt distribution throughout the island. At the same time hurricane warnings were ordered up at St. Thomas and at 12 ports along the coast of Porto Rico.

 

“The storm broke over the southeastern portion of the Island early Thursday morning with the center near Guayama and passed across the island in a west-northwest direction, leaving between Aguadilla and Isabela. The storm center moved across the island in about 8 hours at the rate of 13 miles per hour….

 

“Rainfall.– The rainfall of the 13th and 14th was the heaviest ever recorded in Porto Rico during the past 30 years. Unfortunately reports from the special observers of the Weather Bureau showed a high percentage of overturned rain gages. In addition, the great velocity of the winds made it impossible to register more than 50 to 75 per cent of the amounts which actually fell. Along the coast the rainfall was generally below 10 inches. In the regions of greatest normal rainfall-the vicinity of Adjuntas in the Central Cordillera and in the Luquillo Mountains the amounts exceeded 25 inches….

 

“Winds.– 11:44 a. m. of the 13th the anemometer at the office of the United States Weather Bureau in San Juan lost one of its cups-just after recording a maximum velocity (the greatest velocity in 5 minutes) of 150 miles per hour, and an extreme velocity (the highest velocity in 1 minute) of 160 miles. These velocities probably exceed all official records of the Weather Bureau for similar storms. San Juan was about 30 miles from the storm center when these velocities were recorded. Estimates of 200 miles per hour near the center of the storm appear to be not much overdrawn. At San Juan the storm increased in intensity for 3 hours after the record of 150 miles was made….

 

“Loss of life during the recent storm of San Felipe will not exceed 300, due mostly to the fact that the approach of the storm was announced in time to take necessary precautions against loss of life….

 

“Storm damages in Porto Rico.–As stated above the loss of life during the storm will approximate 300. Several hundred thousand people were rendered homeless. Some towns near the center of the storm were practically leveled….” (Fassig. “San Felipe — The Hurricane of September 13, 1928, at San Juan, P.R.” MWR, pp. 350-352.)

 

Gunn: “The hurricane San Felipe Segundo, named after the saint’s day on which it did so much damage to Puerto Rico, but better known as the Okeechobee Hurricane, was the first recorded hurricane to reach category 5 status. It remains the only recorded hurricane to strike Puerto Rico at category 5 strength…. in Puerto Rico where the storm hit directly at peak strength, three hundred died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.” (Gunn. “Lake Okeechobee hurricane.” Encyclopedia of Disasters, Vol. 1. 2007, p. 316.)

 

NWS: “….Only two years after the Great Miami Hurricane, what would become the second category 4 … hurricane to strike South Florida in as many years formed off the coast of Africa in early September. It…devastated the island of Guadeloupe on September 12, moved through the Virgin Islands, and struck a direct hit on Puerto Rico on the 13^th, El Día de San Felipe. More than 300 persons were killed….” (NWS WFO, Miami. Memorial Webpage for 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane.)

 

Norcross: “The first recorded category 5 hurricane. On September 10 word reached the Weather Bureau of a hurricane 1,250 miles east-southeast of Puerto Rico. This ship report is believed to be the first time information was ever received by radio about a hurricane far to the east in the Atlantic. The storm steadily intensified, reaching the Leeward Islands as a category 4 hurricane on September 12. The eye passed directly over Guadeloupe, doing tremendous damage and killing 1,200 or more. Twenty-four hours later, now at category 5 strength, the storm took direct aim at Puerto Rico. It took nine hours for the massive hurricane to move diagonally across the island on a northwest heading. Sustained winds in San Juan were measured at 159 mph (the first category 5 hurricane winds ever documented) over twenty-five miles north of the center, indicating that it’s likely there were even stronger winds elsewhere in the circulation…. It was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the island, but there were only 300 to 375 deaths, likely because of the advance warning by the Weather Bureau.” (Norcross. “San Filipe and Okeechobee Hurricane.” Hurricane Almanac. 2007, p. 49.)

 

Sources

 

Chicago Tribune. “1928 storm smashed dike, drowned nearly 2,000 near Lake Okeechobee.” 2017. Accessed 11-15-2017 at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-hc-history-1928-story.html

 

Perez, Orlando. Notes on the Tropical Cyclones of Puerto Rico, 1508-1970. San Juan, Puerto Rico: National Weather Service, NOAA, 1970. Accessed 11-16-2017 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/perez_21_34.pdf

 

Fassig, Oliver (Officer in Charge, Weather Bureau Office, San Juan, P.R.). “San Felipe — The Hurricane of September 13, 1928, at San Juan, P.R.” Monthly Weather Review, September 1928, pp. 350-352.)

 

Gunn, Angus. “Lake Okeechobee hurricane.” Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies (Volume 1). Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 2007.

 

National Weather Service, Weather Forecast Office, Miami, FL. Memorial Webpage for 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Miami: NWS WFO, Miami, NOAA, 2004. Accessed 11-15-2017 at: https://www.weather.gov/mfl/okeechobee

 

Norcross, Bryan. Hurricane Almanac: The Essential Guide to Storms Past, Present, and Future.  NY: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Same hurricane hit FL three days later. In that the “Great Okeechobee Hurricane and Flood” receives more attention — due to very large loss of life — and overshadows PR loss of life, we treat the hurricane separately here.

[2] “The storm struck first in Puerto Rico, killing 1,000. No source citation. Not used as fatality estimate in that it is unsourced and out of keeping with other reporting.

[3] However, cites as source the Fassig report in September Monthly Weather Review, which notes 300 deaths.