1929 – Sep 28-Oct 1, Hurricane and remnant, across FL tip, north to Quebec, Can.   -10-12

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-8-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-

–11-12  Blanchard tally from State breakouts below.

—     10  Rappaport/Partagas. Appendix 2, The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 

Florida                        (2-3)

–3  Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill, London: UNC Press, 1998, p.142.[1]

–1  Marathon (Keys). “A wrecking crew reported…one death from the storm at Marathon.”[2]

–1  Panama City. AP. “One Death Reported.” Charleston Gazette, WV. 10-2-1929, p. 1.

Georgia                      (3)

–3  INS. “Hurricane Moving Back to Atlantic.” Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, IA. 10-2-1929, p2.

            –1  Albany. Mother killed.

            –1  Blackshear

            –1  Valdosta

–2  Associated Press. “Heavy Rainfall.” Charleston Gazette, WV. 10-2-1929, p. 1.

–1  Albany. Flying Debris; Dewey Moore, 56.

–1  Blackshear. Electrocution; contact with high voltage wire blown down by winds.[3] 

New Jersey                 (3)        (Hurricane Remnant)

–3  Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “Four Dead in East When Storm Strikes.” 10-3-1929, 1

            –2  Hawthorne area. Two men killed at a crossing near Hawthorne.

–1  Paulsboro area. Fisherman drowned

Pennsylvania              (1)

–1  Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “Four Dead in East When Storm Strikes.” 10-3-1929, 1

            –1  Clinton area. Building blown down killing farm hand seeking refuge from storm.

Gulf of Mexico           (2)

–2  Barge Tiolene. Crewmembers swept overboard “in the gale near the Tampa coast.”[4]

Narrative Information

Rappaport and Partagas: Hurricane 464. Bahamas, FL. 24-29 Sep 1929. “10 deaths, not counting ‘many lives lost’ in the Bahamas.” (Rappaport and Partagas. Appendix 2, The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1996.)[5]

 

Newspapers

 

Sep 28: “MIAMI, Fla., Sept. 28. – A gale that tore storm warning flags into ribbons on the Miami Postoffice Building, swept this southwest [southeast?] Florida metropolis today with increasing violence. The new blow from the hurricane at sea sent residents into downtown ‘hurricane proof’ structures. The storm came as fears were felt that Key West was destined for a severe blow.

 

“Belief that the present hurricane was exceptionally severe was strengthened by reports from Nassau, Bahama Islands, that several deaths had resulted from the disturbance there, one shop wrecked and much property damage….” (Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Florida Feels Hurricane. Wind Increases as Storm Nears Miami; Four Die at Nassau.” 9-28-1929, p. 1.)

 

Oct 1, AP: “PANAMA CITY, Fla., Oct. 1. – (AP) – One death and considerable property damage, including destruction of the city docks and two houses which were washed away, was the toll of the tropical storm which swept into the mainland from the Gulf here late Sunday night [29th].” (Associated Press. “One Death Reported.” Charleston Gazette, WV. 10-2-1929, p. 1, col. 1.)

 

Oct 3: “The Florida hurricane has claimed the lives of two members of the crew of the barge Tiolene. They are reported in messages received here to have been swept overboard and drowned as the barge, which was cast adrift from the tug Bafshe, battled in the gale near the Tampa coast. Radio messages received from coast guard cutters which found the Tiolene and the barge Lubewell early today about 12 miles west of Cedar Keys, said that two members of the Tiolene crew were missing but that the remaining five members of the Tiolene and the seven members of the crew of the Lubewell escaped injury.

 

“Officials of the Sabine Towing company here were attempting early this afternoon to obtain the names of the two missing seamen….

 

“Buffeted about by a 90 mile an hour wind and wallowing in mountainous seas, the barges had drifted about 110 miles from the Tampa coast where they were cast adrift by the Bafshe. Both barges were found by the coast guard cutters Pontchartrain and Naugatuck.

 

“Efforts were being made to get in touch with George M. Restail, superintendent of the company docks at Tampa to obtain the names of the rescued men. In this way they can compare the list of men on file at the local offices and identify the two missing seamen. Whether they are residents of Port Arthur was not known.

 

“The Bafshe which was found by the Rawleigh Warner, a Sabine Towing company tug, is being towed into Mobile and from there will be towed to Port Arthur by the tug.

….

“The Bafshe with the two barges in tow left Smith’s Bluff last Tuesday [1st] About 60 miles off the Tampa coast the tug encountered the hurricane. The Bafshe’s engines broke down and the barges were cast adrift, each with a crew of seven men….” (Port Arthur News, TX. “Two of Crew on Lost Barge Drowned.” 10-3-1929, pp. 1 and 2.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Heavy Rainfall.” Charleston Gazette, WV. 10-2-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/charleston-gazette-oct-02-1929-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “One Death Reported.” Charleston Gazette, WV. 10-2-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/charleston-gazette-oct-02-1929-p-1/

 

Associated Press. “One Known Dead Is Victim of Hurricane.” The Evening Republican, Mitchell, SD, 9-30-1929, p.1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/mitchell-evening-republican-sep-30-1929-p-1/

 

Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill and London: UNC Press, 1998. 

 

Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “Four Dead in East When Storm Strikes.” 10-3-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/canandaigua-daily-messenger-oct-03-1929-p-1/

 

Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Florida Feels Hurricane. Wind Increases as Storm Nears Miami; Four Die at Nassau.” 9-28-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/xenia-evening-gazette-sep-28-1929-p-1/

 

INS (International News Service). “Hurricane Moving Back to Atlantic.” Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, IA. 10-2-1929, p.2. Accessed 2-8-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/dubuque-telegraph-herald-oct-02-1929-p-2/

 

Port Arthur News, TX. “Two of Crew on Lost Barge Drowned.” 10-3-1929, p. 1. Accessed 2-8-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-oct-03-1929-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

 

 

 

 

[1] “Three Floridians died in the hurricane, one of whom had been urged to leave an unsafe shelter but refused to go.” It is conceivable that the two non-Panama City deaths were from the barge Tiolene, which lost two seamen.

[2] Assoc. Press. “One Known Dead Is Victim of Hurricane.” The Evening Republican, Mitchell, SD, 9-30-1929, p.1.

[3] Victim identified as Mrs. Dougherty.

[4] Port Arthur News, TX. “Two of Crew on Lost Barge Drowned.” 10-3-1929, p. 1.

[5] Cites: Monthly Weather Review, U.S. Signal Office, 1-18, 1872-1890; U.S. Weather Bureau, 19-98, 1891-1970; National Weather Service, 99-101, 1971-1973; American Meteorological Society, 101-102, 1974-1994.