Sabine Pass–150

lornajarrettblanchard October 12, 1886

–150 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense US Cyclones…, April 2007.
–150 Garrison, et al. Historic Shipwrecks…of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. 1989, p. F-7.
–150 Rappaport/Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones 1492-1994. 1995.
–150 Roth, David (NWS). Texas Hurricane History. Jan 17, 2010 update, p. 8.
–126 Rappaport/Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones 1492-1994. 1995.
–126 Snow. Great Gales and Dire Disasters, 1952.

Louisiana ( 50)
— 50 Cameron Parish. Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised). 1964, p. 319.

Texas (100)
–250 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 120.
–100 Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised). 1964, p. 322.
— 86 Sabine Pass. Block. “Yellow fever plagued area during 1860s.” 8-7-1999.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1886 Oct 11…Louisiana…Minimal [intensity]…50 killed Cameron Parish.

Roth: “October 12-13th, 1886: This second hurricane to affect the Upper Texas coast proved much more devastating. At Galveston, winds reached 50 mph, causing the Gulf to invade the island. Little, if any, damage was seen there. At Orange, trees were downed and the Catholic Church was leveled.

“Sabine Pass, at the time a small city of several hundred, was “virtually swept out of existence.” The full fury of the storm raged during the afternoon of the 12th.

“The winds began out of the east and became southerly with time. By 5 PM, winds reached 100 mph. All rail and wire communication from Beaumont was severed for 48 hours, limiting the truth of the devastation to be known in real-time. Waves 20 feet high rolled in from the Gulf. Nearly every house in the area was removed from its foundation, including a hotel with 15-20 people inside, which was washed out to sea.

“Ten to eleven miles of railroad track was damaged. Furniture was strewn along the coast. One hundred two people perished in that city alone. Thousands of dead cattle, hogs, horses, and fowl laid everywhere after the storm. A huge schooner loaded with 300 tons of Mexican mahogany was deposited five miles inland of the beach. The schooner Henrietta went ashore and was considered a total loss. The schooner Silas was shoved across the railroad track, out onto the prairie.”

“Johnson’s Bayou and Sabine Pass were overwashed by the storm surge of up to seven feet, which extended 20 miles inland. A woman crossed Sabine Lake on a feather mattress during and after the storm. She was without food for 40 hours before making her final landfall. Due to the totality of the destruction seen across southwest Louisiana from this hurricane, Beaumont and Orange engaged in their largest relief effort up to that time, raising $50,000 for 1200 survivors of the storm.” (Roth, David (NWS). Texas Hurricane History. Jan 17, 2010 update, pp. 26-27.)

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

Block, W. T. “Yellow fever plagued area during 1860s.” The Enterprise, Beaumont, TX, 8-7-1999. Accessed 11-16-2019 at: http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/yellow_fever.htm

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

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

Garrison, E.G., C .P. Giammona, F.J. Kelly, A.R . Tripp, and G .A. Wolff. Historic Shipwrecks and Magnetic Anomalies of the Northern Gulf of Mexico: reevaluation of archaeological resource management zone 1. Volume III : Appendices. OCS Study/MMS 89025 . U .S. Dept of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office, New Orleans, La. Sep 1989. 248 pp. At: http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/3/3680.pdf

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

Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS. 1-17-2010 update. Accessed 11-22-2017 at: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/txhur.pdf

Snow, Edward Rowe Great Gales and Dire Disasters. NY: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1952, 263 p.