HISTORY
OF HURRICANES
The United States has not suffered great loss of life from hurricanes
when
compared to the rest of the world. The typhoon of 1881 at Haifong,
Indochina
reportedly caused the death of 300,000. The Bay of Bengal cyclones of
1864
and 1876 resulted in the estimated loss of life of 150,000 from
drowning
and 130,000 from disease afterwards. The typhoon at Mille in the
Marshall
Islands reported a storm surge of 46 feet in height.
The word hurricane is believed to have been derived from the Spanish
word "huracan" of the West Indies Arawak-speaking Indians. Other possible
derivatives
are: Aracan, Hurranvucan, Urican and Furacan. The Spanish letter F in
Aragon,
Spain was gradually being replaced by letter H of Castile in the late
1400s.
Hurricanes troubled the early European ships from the beginning of the
discovery of the New World. Columbus on his second voyage experienced
the
first recorded West Indies tropical disturbance while near the Isle of
Pines, Cuba that could have been a hurricane. Normally, beginning each
June, they and dust are blown from Africa by the trade winds. Some go
straight,
but most make a northward recurve. Later in the season, some
originate
to our south and sweep northward. An early example, though not
generally
accepted as hurricane force, was the hurricane that wrecked Tristan De
Luna's fleet on October 19, 1559 while he was trying to establish a
settlement
at Ochuse, now Pensacola, Florida.
Hurricanes have always been a part of Keys history. Two of the better
known
early hurricanes were in 1622 and 1733. On September 6, 1622, at least
six ships of the Spanish Terra Firma Fleet were wrecked near the Dry Tortugas,
taking the lives of 550 people. Perhaps the most famous of these ships
is the Atocha which Mel Fisher discovered in 1985. The second
disaster
was the New Spain Armada of which 19 of 21 ships wrecked in the Upper
and
Middle Keys on July 15, 1733. Three of the better known of these ships
in our area are the San Pedro, San Jose and Infante.
Key West's first recorded hurricane was in September, 1835; but the
October
11, 1846 hurricane is generally considered its most intense. Reports of
loss of life ranged from 25 to 58. The 58 may have included some lost
at
sea. The population of Key West was about 2,000 in 1846. Of the
estimated
600 houses, all but eight were severely damaged or destroyed. Both the
Key West and Sand Key lighthouses were completely destroyed, with no
occupants
surviving. There were about 20 people in the lighthouses.
The U.S. weather service began in 1870 as a function of the Army Signal
Corps that relayed data twice a day to Washington by telegraph.
Congress
created the weather bureau in 1890 under the Department of
Agriculture.
In the Spanish American War of 1898, President McKinley stated he was
more
afraid of hurricanes than of the Spanish Navy. Timeliness was lacking
for
effective hurricane tracking because of the lack of wireless
communication.
Warning stations were established throughout the West Indies with the
center
in Kingston, Jamaica.
From NOAA statistics from 1899 to 1992, there were 794 hurricanes and
tropical
storms in the Atlantic areas. Of these, 161 hurricanes and 141 tropical
storms have made landfall or passed immediately offshore from Texas to
Maine. Of the 161 hurricanes, 55 were in Florida and about half hit its
southeastern part.
The infamous 1900 Galveston hurricane killed 6,000 people - the
greatest
natural disaster in U.S. history. There was no hurricane warning.
The October hurricanes of 1906, 1909, 1910 and the September of 1919
were
quite severe for the Keys. The first three played havoc with the
construction
of the Overseas Railway. Henry Flagler's crews learned much about
preparation
and evacuation from the 1906 hurricane and were far better prepared for
the next two, losing only a few lives. The 1919 hurricane did severe
damage
to the Key West-Havana railroad docks and buildings in Key West with a
high loss of life, though not on land. The steamer Valbanera
was
later found between Key West and the Dry Tortugas sunk with 488
aboard.
The 1926 hurricane devastated Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and caused 200
deaths.
The warning came late at night when most everyone was asleep. Two years
later the 1928 hurricane overflowed Lake Okeechobee, killing 1,836
people.
The year 1933 had a record number of tropical storms - 21, nine of
which
were hurricanes. The reader can guess what was next. Yes, 1935. A
category-5
hurricane tore through the Upper Keys, inflicting total destruction of
Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys, and doomed the financially frail
Overseas
Railway.
-
The strengths of hurricanes are broken down into five categories known
as the Saffir/Simpson scale as follows:
- SAFFIR/SIMPSON SCALE -
Category Wind MPH Surge feet Example
1
74-95
4-5 Floyd in 1987
2
96-110
6-8 David in 1974
3
111-130
9-12 Betsy in 1965
4
131-155
13-18 Donna in 1960
5
156-up
19-up Labor Day 1935
-
I proffer a special disclaimer in using statistics of hurricane data.
Many
factors must be used for specific conclusions. However, if we use NOAA
data to consider total U.S. damage costs alone (adjusted to 1996
dollars),
the category-4 hurricane Andrew (1992) was the most destructive with
$30
billion of damage. Second was category-4 Hugo (1989), with $8 billion
damage.
Third was a category-1 hurricane in the northeast U.S. named Agnes
(1972),
causing $7.5 billion damage. Fourth was category-3 Betsy (1965), with
$7.4
billion damage. Fifth was category-5 Camille (1969), with $6 million
damage.
Fifteenth was our 1960 hurricane category-4 Donna with $2 billion
damage.
The 1935 hurricane is not even on the charts - there was not much
property
value in its path. The later hurricanes appear to cause fewer
fatalities,
but higher damage claims.
-
If we consider loss of life in the U.S., then the number one is the
1900
category-4 Galveston hurricane, which officially caused 8,000+ deaths.
The Louisiana hurricane of 1893, which caused 2,000 official deaths, is
number two. Number three is the category-4 1928 Lake Okeechobee
hurricane,
which killed 1,836, mostly by drowning. Number four was the 1893 South
Carolina hurricane, which killed between 1,000 and 2,000. Number five
was
the New England category-3 hurricane of 1938 with 600 deaths. (The 1919
Key West/Texas hurricane also killed 600, plus an additional 500 on
ships
at sea.) The Upper Keys category-5 hurricane of 1935 ranks number eight
with 408 deaths. Note that the top five hurricanes are not the same in
the two evaluations. Damage dollar costs and loss of life depend on
many
factors, such as the population density, structure value, location,
inflation
and size of the affected area. Forty five million residents have moved
to coastal areas in the past 25 years.
In 1943, the primary hurricane forecast office was moved from
Jacksonville
to Miami, where a joint civilian, Air Corps and Navy center was
established
under Grady Norton. Accuracy was greatly improved with the routine use
of aircraft. Then in 1950 hurricanes were given names for easier
reference.
In 1955, the Miami office was officially designated the National
Hurricane
Center. The first operational weather satellite went into orbit in
1966.
An African storm on August 29, 1960 caused an airplane crash that
claimed
63 lives near Dakar, Africa. Three days later this storm system was
officially
named "Donna." By September 5, Donna had made landfall in the Leeward
Islands
in the Lesser Antilles. On September 7, a hurricane watch was declared
on the Florida southeast coast and warning flags went up the next day
from
Key West to Key Largo. A category-4 hurricane was on its way.
It is written that 80 gathered in a Key Largo shelter and 150 in each
of
the two former WPA storm-refuge schools then operated as Red Cross
shelters.
Hurricane force winds struck the Keys on the evening of September 9 and
lasted through the night. The eye of the hurricane was about 21 miles
wide,
stretching from Marathon to Lower Matecumbe, and crossed land at about
2:30 A.M. on September 10. Tides at Marathon were 8 to 9.5 feet and at
Upper Matecumbe 9 to 13.5 feet.
The Tea Table Bridge between Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys was washed
out. The pipeline was broken in six places, electricity was out, and
there
was very limited telephone service. No sooner was the Tea Table
pipeline
repaired than an errant barge broke the pipeline at Vaca Cut. Sheriff
John
Spottswood laid the law down with the help of the Florida National
Guard.
An 8:30 P.M. curfew was imposed and the sale of hard liquor outlawed.
Beer
sales were permitted from noon till 6:00 P.M. (This is the Keys!) A
travel
pass system was established. Only two were reported dead in the Keys.
The
population of the entire Upper Keys was 3,126 in 1960, compared to
22,338
in the 1990 census.
Hurricane Betsy caused significant damage to the Upper Keys. Its course
appeared to be taking it safely to the east of the Keys when it did a
complete
loop and headed west. It struck the Keys and Dade County on September 7
and 8, 1965 causing considerable damage. In June the next year,
Hurricane
Alma gave the Keys a scare, but passed safely to the west. Then in late
September the same year (1966), Hurricane Inez cranked up in the
Caribbean
and appeared to be passing well to the east, but turned sharply
westward
and struck the length of the Keys.
Of the recent hurricanes to directly hit the Keys, “Floyd” on October
12,
1987 was perhaps the only one to contact all the Keys. Floyd veered its
northward course to between the Yucatan and Cuba northeastward and
followed
highway U.S. 1 up the Keys. Many missed the initial warning issued at
6:00
P.M. the day before, but fortunately Floyd was about as minimal as a
hurricane
can be.
Dade County Hurricane Andrew scraped Key Largo at Ocean Reef when it
came
ashore Monday morning on August 24, 1992. The first storm with the name
Andrew to cause death was in 1986, but it was a tropical storm mainly
over
Haiti and Jamaica. It rained for almost two weeks and 47 people died in
the islands.
The 1992 Andrew was also a tropical storm on Friday, August 21 at 10:00
A.M., heading west on about a straight-line 750 miles east of
Tavernier.
At 4:00 A.M. Saturday morning Andrew strengthened to a hurricane about
650 miles east of North Miami. Fourth-eight hours and 52 minutes later,
the center made landfall at Elliott/Old Rhodes Keys group at 4:52 A.M.
with gusts of 168 miles per hour and a barometric pressure of 27.23
inches
of mercury (922 Mb).
The Keys never lost fresh water from the Florida Keys Aqueduct
Authority (FKAA) as the pipeline was not broken and there were back-up diesel
pumps.
The Upper Keys lost electricity from 4 to 10 days, as the main power
lines
from Florida Power and Light (FP&L) were destroyed on the upper
portion
of Key Largo. The Florida Keys Electric Cooperative (FKEC) had
emergency
power generators in Marathon. These were shared with the Upper Keys
until
downed lines could be repaired and isolated. Telephone and television
cables
were out for up to 7 days.
Compared to most hurricanes, Andrew was relatively small in width and
low
in rainfall, but an intense, fast-moving hurricane. After two Andrews,
the name has been retired, never to be used again.
History will tell whether Upper Keys residents will remember Andrew or
Tropical Storm Mitch on November 4, 1998. For certain, the Middle and
Lower
Keys will remember Hurricane Georges of September 25, 1998. Then on
October
15, 1999 Hurricane Irene was supposed to be well away from Keys. It
really
was not.
