5 — 43

lornajarrettblanchard August 13, 1942

–43 Blanchard tally from State and locality breakouts below: (Aug 11-12 hurricane separate doc.)
–34 North Carolina (Primarily western NC mountains)
— 4 Tennessee (Eastern TN mountains)
— 5 Virginia (Southwest Virginia mountains)
–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.

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.

North Carolina (34)
–34 Blanchard tally by County from sources below.
— 2 Avery County.
— 2 Halifax County.
— 3 Jackson County.
— 1 McDowell County.
— 2 Northampton County.
— 1 Surry County.
–17 Watauga County. Does not include two unidentified missing Green children.
— 5 Wilkes County.
— 1 Chimney Rock highway. Electrocution; W. B. Caulder, 25, contact with live wire.
–26 Deep Gap Debris Flow, Watauga County. NC Geological Survey – Hazards. Landslides.
–16 Watauga County. Gerard; cites Watauga Democrat.
— 2 Banner Elk, Avery County. “Avalanche” sweeps home nearly ½ mile.
–1 Beulah Shoemaker, 8.
–1 Ruby Shoemaker, 18-months.
— 1 Chimney Rock highway. Electrocution; W. B. Caulder, 25, contact with live wire.
— 1 Deep Gap, Watauga Co. Landslide at Carlton service station. Johnny Anderson, 9.
— 1 Deep Gap, Watauga Co. Landslide into son-in law’s home (Guy Carlton); Martha Carroll.
— 4 Dutch Creek, Watauga County. William Townsend, son, Roy, and two grandchildren.
— 1 Ferguson, Wilkes Co. Body of unidentified drowning victim found on the Yadkin River.
— 3 Jackson County. Landslide engulfs McCall family home. Gerard. “The Deluge of 1940.”
–1 Albert McCall; never found.
–1 5-year-old son of Albert McCall found on island near Bryson City, about 60 miles.
–1 Unidentified child of Albert McCall never found.
— 2 Meat Camp/Deep Gap, Watauga County. Landslide
–1 Johnny Green, 8.
–1 Young son of Mrs. Wilber Green.
— 2 North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County.
–1 Electrocution; woman in car surrounded by water grabs electric wire.
–1 Drowning; man in boat swept by swift current over dam near Wilson [Black Mt.]
— 1 North Wilkesboro area. Drowning; Miss Opaline Smith, 18, swept from Buck Creek bridge.
— 2 Occoneechee Neck near Jackson, Northampton County. Drownings.
–1 Gomez Rawls, 20.
–1 Sue Thomas, 50.
— 2 Roanoke Rapids area, Halifax County. Drownings; John Newson, 20 and Jack Hale, 25.
— 1 Sevier-Ashford area of McDowell County. Landslide; John McDowell crushed.
— 4 Stony Fork Creek, Watauga County. Andy [Andrew ] Green and three daughters.
–1 Creola Green, 16. Gerard. “The 1940s: The Deluge of 1940.” Our State. 3-26-2018.
–1 Velma Lea Green, 14. “ “ “
–1 Vernita Green, 12. “ “ “
— 2 Stony Fork Creek, Watauga County. Zeb Green; two daughters. [Niece Nina Todd, 15. ]
— 1 Surry County home inmate. Drowning; unidentified woman swept away in Fishers River.
— 1 Valle Crucis, Watauga Co. Drowning; body of William L. Townsend, 68, recovered Aug 17.
— 1 Valle Crusis, Watauga County. Drowning; Lee Townsend, son of William L. Townsend.
— 2 Watauga County. Unidentified Green children missing. (Have not been able to verify.)
— 1 Wilkesboro, Cub Creek area, Wilkes County. Drowning; Miss Opaline Smith of Angler.

Tennessee ( 4)
–4 AP. “At Least 25 Dead In Five States As Results Of Floods.” Florence Morning News, SC. 8-16-1940, p. 1.
–2 East TN. AP. “North Wilkesboro Cut Off By Flooded Yadkin Riv…” Wilson Daily Times, NC, 8-14-1940, p1.
–3 Elizabethton area, drownings.
–1 Elizabethton area. Drowning; car swept off road into Watauga River; Mrs. Bob Shell, 54.

Virginia ( 5)
–5 AP. “At Least 25 Dead In Five States As Results Of Floods.” Florence Morning News, SC. 8-16-1940, p. 1.
–3 Galax, SW VA. Drownings. AP. “16 Persons Die…” Wilmington Morning Star, 8-15-1940, p. 1.
–1 Southwest VA. Drowning.

VA, TN, NC (16) Roth, David and Hugh Cobb. Virginia Hurricane History.

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 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.)

Cohn on NC: “On August 14, 1940, relentless rain and a broken dam caused the Watauga River to flood several towns and communities near the Tennessee-North Carolina line….On August 11 a hurricane struck Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. The storm system moved inland, and on the evening of August 13, the rain suddenly started to come down harder in Watauga and the surrounding region. Water began to rise swiftly in creeks and streams. Rocks and clumps of mud loosened by the driving rain began to slide down the hillsides. Before long, land-slides covered the roads….” (Cohn, Scotti. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina. Chapter 11. “Gathering Storm. The August Floods.” 2005, pp. 101-110.)

Gerard on NC: “….The disaster goes down in history as the Great Flood of 1940, but it’s really many floods: of the Watauga, Yadkin, Little Tennessee, Tuckasegee, New, and French Broad rivers. Of Stony Fork Creek and Linville Creek and Swift Ford Branch and a hundred other creeks in Watauga, Ashe, Wilkes, Haywood, Caldwell, and other mountain counties.

“It is a great deluge not just of water, but also of earth, as if the mountains themselves are dissolving into a cold lava clotted with boulders and stumps and green trees and the wooden bones of broken barns and houses – and too many bodies of innocents caught unawares in the dark of night, carried off from their homes by this rampaging creature of storms, this devastating legacy of clear-cut mountainsides, this nightmare come true.” (Gerard, Philip. “Decades Series. The 1940s: The Deluge of 1940.” Our State. 3-26-2018.)

NC Geological Survey on Deep Gap Debris Flows: “Debris flows and debris slides…[reference to photo triggered by the Aug. 10-17, 1940 hurricane. Base map is a geo-registered Sept. 1940 aerial photograph of the Blue Ridge Escarpment area near Deep Gap in Watauga County (unregistered photograph courtesy of U.S.G.S.). Light colors in the main stream and river channels are sediment from the debris flows and flooding. The flooding and landslides from this event killed 26 people in North Carolina alone. At least two fatalities resulted from a landslide along the Watauga River.” (North Carolina Geological Survey-Hazards. Landslides. “Deep Gap Debris Flows Watauga County August 10-17, 1940.”)

Roth on TN, VA and NC flooding: “August 13-18, 1940: First observed between St. Martin and St. Thomas on the 5th, this tropical storm began to curve northwest, to the northeast of the Bahamas. Winds reached hurricane force at that time. A high pressure system built in to the north of the cyclone, forcing is on a more westward course to the near the Georgia/South Carolina border. The system meandered across the Southeast U.S. for four days, before becoming diffuse on the 15th.

“Rains began in Virginia on the 13th, as the dying storm entered the state from the west. Deluges flooded locations statewide. Hampton Roads measured 4.76 inches. Emporia, on the Meherrin river, reached a flood of record on the 17th, when the stage crested at 31.50 feet, which was 8 ½ feet above flood stage. Mountain rivers and streams went on the rampage, washing out bridges and causing landslides which blocked roads. Several principal highways between Norfolk and southwest Virginia and Asheville were closed. A collision on the 13th involving the Oil Screw F.B. Scarbrough five miles above Coles Point may have been caused by this system. Sixteen died in the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina due to the storm

Newspapers

Aug 14, Associated Press: “Asheville, Aug. 14. – (AP) – Mountain streams swollen by torrential rains of the last three days surged out of their banks today wreaking damage to roads, crops, and lowland industrial plants expected to run into millions of dollars and claiming at least six lives. Highways throughout the stricken area were blocked by washouts, land-slides or inundation.

“North Wilkesboro, a town of 4,000 persons, was cut off from the outside world by the flooded Yadkin river. Mayor R. P. McNeill of North Wilkesboro, estimated that damage in the town would be $2,000,000 and he said it probably would reach $5,000,000 for Wilkes county as a whole. He said that 500 persons were homeless and at least 2,500 were out of work. At an emergency meeting of the city commissioners of North Wilkesboro this afternoon arrangements were made to take care of the homeless. Shelter and food were provided.

“A woman excitedly grabbed an electric wire near North Wilkesboro and was killed when flood waters surged about her automobile. A man drowned when his boat was swept over a dam near here. Two persons were drowned in southwest Virginia the two others in east Tennessee….The torrential rains followed a hurricane that raked the coast of South Carolina and Georgia last weekend…”” (Associated Press. “North Wilkesboro Cut Off By Flooded Yadkin River; Property Damage Is Heavy.” Wilson Daily Times, NC, 8-14-1940, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “16 Persons Die in Dixie Floods.” Wilmington Morning Star, 8-15-1940, p.1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilmington-morning-star-aug-15-1940-p-1/

Associated Press. “At Least 25 Dead In Five States As Results Of Floods.” Florence Morning News, SC. 8-16-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/florence-morning-news-aug-16-1940-p-1/

Associated Press. “Five Lose Lives, Hundreds Homeless from N.C. Floods.” Burlington Daily Times-News, NC. 8-19-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-daily-times-news-aug-19-1940-p-1/

Associated Press. “North Wilkesboro Cut Off By Flooded Yadkin River; Property Damage Is Heavy.” Wilson Daily Times, NC, 8-14-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilson-daily-times-aug-14-1940-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

Burlington Daily Times-News, NC. “Property (continued from page 1).” 8-14-1940, 4. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-daily-times-news-aug-14-1940-p-4/

Cohn, Scotti. Disasters and Heroic Rescues of North Carolina. Chapter 11. “Gathering Storm. The August Floods.” Guilford, CT; Insiders’ Guide, an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press, 2005.

Gastonia Daily Gazette, NC. “More About Floods (continued from Page 1).” 8-16-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/gastonia-daily-gazette-aug-16-1940-p-4/

Gerard, Philip. “Decades Series. The 1940s: The Deluge of 1940.” Our State. 3-26-2018. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://www.ourstate.com/the-deluge-of-1940/

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

North Carolina Geological Survey – Hazards. Landslides. “Deep Gap Debris Flows Watauga County August 10-17, 1940.” Accessed 9-1-2022 at: https://web.archive.org/web/20130128084049/http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/Landslide_Info/Landslides_example_historical_events.htm

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

Statesville Record, NC. “Heavy Devastation as Floods Sweep Through State.” 8-15-1940, p. 1. Accessed 9-2-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/statesville-record-aug-15-1940-p-1/

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