1940 — Aug 11-12, coastal Hurricane, GA (2), SC (34) — 36

–52 Wikipedia. “1940 South Carolina hurricane.” 4-9-2022 edit. (Includes remnant flooding in mts.)
–50 direct
— 2 indirect
–51 Blake, Rappaport, Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States… 2007, p. 22.
–51 Hebert/Jarrell/Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… Feb 1993, p. 80.
–GA, SC and NC
–50 Douglas. Hurricane. 1958, p. 290.
–50 Weather Bureau. Monthly Weather Review, August 1940, p. 218.
—<20 GA and SC coastal areas --2 Savannah, GA -->30 GA, TN, SC and NC Appalachian Mountain region; flooding from heavy rain.
–36 Blanchard tally from State and locality breakouts below.*
— 2 Georgia (hurricane)
–34 South Carolina
–34 Dunn and Miller. “1940 Aug 11-12 Ga-S.C. Major 34 killed, damage $7,000,000.” (p313)

*Blanchard note: Aug 13-14 remnant rain, flooding. Landslides and debris falls, primarily in western NC, TN, and VA Appalachian mountains, treated separately in another document.

Georgia ( 2)
–2 Blanchard tally. The only deaths we could confirm were two in Savannah.
–4 AP. “At Least 25 Dead In Five States As Results Of Floods.” Florence Morning News, SC. 8-16-1940, p. 1.
–3 Augusta area. Drownings. AP. “16 Persons Die…” Wilmington Morning Star, 8-15-1940, 1.
–1 Augusta area. Woman dies of a heart attack at home upon approach of flood waters.
–2 Savannah. Wikipedia. “1940 South Carolina Hurricane.” (One was heart attack.)
–2 AP. “Georgia Coast Cleaning Up After Storm.” Thomasville Times Enterprise, GA, 8-12-1940, p. 1.
–1 Savannah. Wind-blown flying glass; Annie Wade killed outdoors on a street.
–1 Savannah. Heart attack when tree crashed into his house; Jesse Wallace.

South Carolina (34)
–34 Jordan, Dukes, Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P. 43.
–34 South Caroline State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricanes & Tropical Storms.
–33 Assoc. Press. “Hurricane Death Toll Is 35.” Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC, 8-13-1940, p.1.
–25 St. Helena Island, Beaufort County.
— 8 Lady’s Island, Beaufort County.

Narrative Information

Weather Bureau, Monthly Weather Review, Aug 1940: “….The first indications that this storm had developed to hurricane intensity were received from the American S.S. Maine, giving her noon position as approximately 32⁰03′ N., and longitude 77⁰18′ W. The ship’s daily journal of August 10th shows that the vessel met east-southeast wind, force 10 increasing to full hurricane strength at 4 p.m. (local ship’s time), with very high and rough east-southeasterly sea, large heavy swell and poor visibility. The barometer fell very rapidly until about 8 p.m. when it became steady and began to rise slowly.

“The hurricane crossed the coast at about 4 p.m. of August 11, near Beaufort, S. C., where moving inland, its course curved to the westward, passing just north of Savannah, GA between 5 and 6 p.m. on the same day….

“A report of the storm by the forecaster at Jacksonville, Fla., Grady Norton, includes the following:

The lowest pressure at Savannah was 28.78 inches (974.7 mb.) and highest wind 73 miles per hour from north, just before passage of center. A lull occurred from 5 to 6 p.m., during which the wind dropped to 9 miles per hour, then shifted to south and increased to whole gale. Winds of hurricane force were experienced from the Savannah area nearly to Charleston (Charleston maximum velocity 66 miles per hour for 5 minutes) a distance of about 90 miles. Damaging gales extended north of Charleston to Georgetown and south of Savannah to Brunswick. Tides were very high north of the center, Charleston reported 10.7 feet above mean low tide.

….Reports are somewhat confused as to loss of life. The larger communities (Savannah, Beaufort, and Charleston) had very few casualties; none occurred at Charleston and Beaufort and only two at Savannah, and one of these was by heart failure due to fright, rather than injury. In the coastal area between Savannah and Charleston a considerable number lost their lives. Early press reports indicated 35 dead but some at first thought dead were later found safe and the exact number may never be known, but it is believed to be not more than 20 for the entire coastal area….

After leaving the coast the storm moved slowly to the southern Appalachian Mountain region attended by torrential rains and disastrous floods in many sections of Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Press reports indicate more than 30 deaths and property damage of many millions of dollars in these flood areas, as well as tremendous crop damage. This indicates that the storm caused far more damage and destruction by the floods than by the hurricane winds it gave in the coastal sections.

“….During the afternoon of August 11, a sea-level pressure reading of 974.7 millibars (28.78 inches) was recorded at Savannah, Ga. This is the lowest ever recorded at the Weather Bureau Office at that place.

“During the next 4 or 5 days, as the storm moved overland, it diminished rapidly in intensity and its progressive motion was rather erratic. Its positive identity was lost on August 15….” (NOAA Monthly Weather Review, August 1940, pp. 217-218.)

Jordan on SC: “1940 Aug. 11-15 (3) First severe hurricane to strike SC coast directly, in thirty years: winds SE 85 mph (Charleston); encompassed the entire coastal region with 13-foot storm surge; 100 houses destroyed on Edisto, 200 houses on Pa,-1leys Island; u11osquito Fleet” of
shrimp-boats demolished at Charleston; total property losses: $10 million; 34 Lives lost.” (Jordan, Dukes, Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P. 43.)

South Caroline State Climatology Office: “West-northwest track; 10+ inches of rainfall mostly across SC; 34 dead and $9.9 million of property and crop damage in SC. Hurricane strength winds maintained over most of coast. Sea level pressure in Savannah decreased to 976 mb.” (South Caroline State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricanes & Tropical Storms. “Unnamed 1940 08/11.”)
Newspapers

Aug 13, Associated Press: “Atlanta, Aug. 13 – (AP) – Hurricane-battered coasts of Georgia and South Carolina counted at least 35 dead today and millions of dollars of property damage as near-normalcy returned to the stricken area. The Red Cross reported from Washington that 25 Negroes were killed on St. Helena Island neat Beaufort, S.C. Sunday in the 80-mile-an-hour hurricane that swept out of the Bahamas, and eight other Negroes perished on nearby Ladies Island. Two persons died at Savannah, Ga., as the storm swept that city. One CCC boy was missing on Huntington Island, near Charleston, S.C. Governor Burnett R. Maybank of South Carolina said Beaufort county appeared to have been hardest hit. At least 200 homes were destroyed in the county and many others damaged….” (AP. “Hurricane Death Toll Is 35.” Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC, 8-13-1940, p.1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “At Least 27 Known Dead On Hurricane-Swept Coasts of South Carolina and Georgia.” Florence Morning News, SC. 8-13-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/florence-morning-news-aug-13-1940-p-1/

Associated Press. “Georgia Coast Cleaning Up After Storm.” Thomasville Times Enterprise, GA, 8-12-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/thomasville-times-enterprise-aug-12-1940-p-1/

Associated Press. “Hurricane Death Toll Is 35.” Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC, 8-13-1940, p.1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/gastonia-daily-gazette-aug-13-1940-p-1/

Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones from 1851 to 2006 (And Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-5). April 2007. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-TPC-5.pdf

Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Hurricane. New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1958, 393 pp.

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

en-academic.com. “Georgia-South Carolina Hurricane of 1940.” Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/1850541

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. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CZIC-qc995-u673-1996/html/CZIC-qc995-u673-1996.htm

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 9-1-2022 at: https://www.scseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/South-Carolina-Hurricane-History-1980.pdf

Roth, David (Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD) and Hugh Cobb (National Weather Service Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA). “Late Nineteenth Century Virginia Hurricanes,” Virginia Hurricane History. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/roth/vaerly20hur.htm

South Carolina State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting South Carolina. 11-1-2008 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricane_tracks_affecting_sc.php

South Caroline State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricanes & Tropical Storms. “Unnamed 1940 08/11.” Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/hurricanes/

Weather Bureau. Monthly Weather Review, August 1940, pp. 217-218. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1940.pdf

Wikipedia. “1940 South Carolina hurricane.” 4-9-2022 edit. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_South_Carolina_hurricane