1893 — Aug 27-28, Hurricane, Sea Islands “Great Storm of 1893,” GA and SC –1,000-2,500

–2000-2500  Rappaport, Fernandez-Partagas. Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones. 1995.[1]

–1000-2500  NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,”  Oct 17, 2005.

—       >2000  Brinkley, Douglas. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina…Gulf Coast. 2006, 7[2]

—       >2000  Norcross. Hurricane Almanac. 2007, p. 41.[3]

—       >2000  SC State Climatology Office. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting SC.

—         2000  South Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology.

—       <2000  USCOE. SC Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report, 2000.

—       ~2000  Sumner. “The North Atlantic Hurricane of September 8-16, 1944.” MWR, p. 187.

–1000-2000  Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, 2007.

–1000-2000  Dunn and Miller.  Atlantic Hurricanes, 1964, p. 312.

–1000-2000  Hebert et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Hurricanes…, 1993

–1000-2000  Jarrell et al.  The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense U.S. Hurricanes.  2001.

–1000-2000  Ludlum.  The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 202.

—       >1000  Rappaport, Fernandez-Partagas.  Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones. 1995.[4]

 

Narrative Information

 

Dunn and Miller: “On August 27, 1893, a hurricane moved inland between Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina, accompanied in the Charleston area by a tremendous wave which submerged all of the coastal islands. Between 1,000 and 2,000 lives were lost.” (Dunn and Miller, 1964, 213)

 

NWS: “Aug 29…1893…A very destructive hurricane devastated the GA/SC coast on the 27th. A tremendous wave submerged the offshore islands near Charleston and Savannah, killing between 1,000 and 2,500 people. The storm recurved to the NE, passing through Ern PA, still retaining hurricane strength. PHL received 0.55″ of rain. Norfolk, VA, and NYC both measured a gust to 60 mph, the highest recorded wind gust for those places in 1893.  The storm decreased to tropical storm status in ME. (PHL[5])(H[6])(NCC[7]).” (NWS FO, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts…,”  Oct 17, 2005.)

 

SC SCO: “North-northeast through SC midlands. 96-120 mph winds, tremendous storm surge; major damage; moved north near Columbia, then northeast. 2,000 dead, $10 million damage.”  (SC SCO. Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Affecting SC.)

 

“By 1893, major population centers could be telegraphically alerted to storms moving along the coast, but there were no warnings for the Sea Islands and other isolated areas. The “Great Storm of 1893” struck the south coast at high tide on August 28, pushing an enormous storm surge ahead of it and creating a “tidal wave” that swept over and submerged whole islands. Maximum winds in the Beaufort area were reported at 125 miles per hour, those in Charleston at 120 miles per hour. Water from the first wave probably stacked up in the marshes, held there by the wind until the next high tide, which was after the storm had passed. Lowered barometric pressure and the amount of “stacked” water created resonance-effect destruction equal to that of the “tidal wave.”  At least 2,000 people lost their lives, and an estimated 20,000-30,000 were left homeless and with no mean of subsistence. Property damage was estimated at $10 million, equal to $119, 330, 000 in 1985 dollars.”  (SCS Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology.)

 

USCOE: “The “Great Storm of 1893” struck the south coast at high tide, pushing an enormous storm surge ahead of it, creating a “tidal wave” that swept and submerged whole islands.  Maximum winds in the Beaufort area were reported at 125 mph; those in Charleston at 120 mph.  Water from the first wave probably stacked up in the marshes, held there by the winds until the next high tide, which was after the storm had passed.  Lowered barometric pressure and the amount of “stacked” water caused destruction equal to that of a “tidal wave.”  At least 2000 people lost their lives, and an estimated 20,000-30,000 were left homeless and with no means of subsistence.”  (USCOE. SC Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report.)

 

Sources

 

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

 

Brinkley, Douglas. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Harper Perennial, 2006. Google preview accessible at: http://books.google.com/books?id=0a3PQ8oBriUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

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

 

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

 

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Philadelphia/Mount Holly. “Historical Weather Facts for the Philadelphia/Mt. Holly, NJ Forecast Area.” Mount Holly, NJ: NWS FO, Oct 17, 2005 update. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/hist_phi.html#0311

 

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

 

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

 

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 Carolina State Climatology Office. South Carolina Hurricane Climatology. Accessed 6-6-2009 at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Tropics/hurricanes_affecting_sc.php

 

Sumner, H. C. “The North Atlantic Hurricane of September 8-16, 1944.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 72, No. 9, 12-5-1944, pp. 187-189. Accessed 11-13-2017 at:  http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1944.pdf

 

United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). South Carolina Hurricane Evacuation Restudy Technical Data Report.  June 2000.  Accessed 11-27-2008 at:  http://chps.sam.usace.army.mil/USHESdata/SC/SCChapter1.htm

 

 

 

 

[1] Cites: Ho, F. P., 1989: Extreme Hurricanes in the Nineteenth Century. NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS HYDRO 43A, Silver Spring, Maryland, 134 pp.

[2] No source citation.

[3] Notes that “Clara Barton of the Red Cross estimated the number to be 4,000 to 5,000–drowned…”

[4] Cites Tannehill, I. R., 1940: Hurricane. Their nature and history. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 257 pp.

[5] “Philadelphia weather records beginning with Center City readings, then continuing Dec 1, 1945, with readings from Philadelphia International Airport.”

[6] Hurricanes, Tannehill, Ivan Ray, 1956.

[7] National Climatic Center.