1893 San Roque hurricane

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Hurricane Three
1893 San Roque hurricane
Surface weather analysis of Hurricane Three on August 21, 1893, off the Mid-Atlantic U.S. coast
Meteorological history
FormedAugust 13, 1893
DissipatedAugust 22, 1893
Category 3 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds120 mph (195 km/h)
Overall effects
Fatalities37
DamageUnknown
Areas affectedLesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, New England, Atlantic Canada
Part of the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane San Roque was a destructive

feast day of Saint Roch, or San Roque in Spanish, which coincided with the hurricane's landfall on that island.[nb 1] It was the third known hurricane of the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season. The system was first observed on August 13 at low latitudes east of the Lesser Antilles. It grew to be a powerful, slow-moving hurricane in the Caribbean Sea, and on August 17 struck Puerto Rico at the equivalence of Category 3 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale. The eye
crossed the island from southeast to northwest in about seven hours. A prolonged period of strong winds caused widespread destruction on the island, most notably along the northern coast. Large numbers of homes sustained varying degrees of damage, with flimsy shacks belonging to poor workers faring the worst; many families were left homeless, and four people were killed. Telegraph communications were severed across the island. In addition to the intense winds, several days of heavy rainfall in interior sectors triggered extensive river flooding. The combined effects of rain and wind destroyed fields of crops, most notably coffee and sugar cane.

On August 19, the hurricane began to turn northeastward, accelerate, and gradually weaken. Although its center remained far from the United States, heavy rainfall and gale-force winds overspread the country's East Coast on August 20 and 21. Eastern New England experienced conditions akin to a particularly bad nor'easter, with winds as high as 72 mph (116 km/h) recorded on Block Island. Across Rhode Island and Massachusetts, grain crops were flattened and orchards were stripped of their fruits. The racing yacht Volunteer was badly damaged, and a fishing schooner sank off Nantucket; only one of the seven crew members managed to survive, by clinging to debris for 33 hours. Later that day, the now-rapidly moving cyclone made landfall in Nova Scotia. Damage to utility wires in Halifax cut power and communications services, and a child was killed by a downed power line. The storm wrought havoc on ships and boats throughout Atlantic Canada, becoming "one of the most notorious marine storms in the history of Nova Scotia".[4] The greatest maritime tragedy was the wreck of the steamship Dorcas and its barge, Etta Stewart, which struck a rocky shoal while underway east of Halifax. Dorcas capsized and was driven ashore, while the barge broke up in the pounding surf. All crew members and passengers on the two vessels, totaling 24 people, were killed. Two more people died when their boat sank on Trinity Bay in Newfoundland, for a storm total of 37 fatalities.

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

Because of scarce meteorological observations, little is known about Hurricane San Roque's early history. According to contemporaneous accounts, it most likely originated in the

barometric pressure fell to 987.8 mbar (29.17 inHg).[8] Approximately seven hours after moving ashore, the center exited Puerto Rico between Isabela and Quebradillas.[7][8]

On August 18, weather stations along the Atlantic coast of the

U.S. East Coast in the span of eight days; Hurricane Four would strike western Long Island on August 24, and Hurricane Six ravaged the Sea Islands on August 28 before moving northward along the Eastern Seaboard.[6][10]

Though some modern researchers catalogued the system as a hurricane on its final approach to Nova Scotia, the official Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project found no conclusive evidence of hurricane-force winds in Canada.[7][3] In the early morning hours of August 22, the storm made landfall in Nova Scotia via St. Margarets Bay,[11] as an extratropical cyclone.[6] Its northeasterly path placed greater Halifax in the typically intense right-front quadrant of the storm center; this would not be repeated until Hurricane Juan in 2003.[11] After rapidly crossing Nova Scotia, the extratropical system impacted the island of Newfoundland. Its remnants continued eastward into the North Atlantic for several more days; its documented course ends on August 25.[6]

Impact

The intensifying hurricane brought stormy conditions to the Lesser Antilles from Martinique to the Virgin Islands. In Saint Thomas, boats and docks were damaged, trees were blown down, and houses were unroofed.[12][13]

Puerto Rico

For the first time in Puerto Rico's history,

tugboats meant some vessels had to ride out the storm at anchor, exposed to the elements.[15] Ships at dock were required to be unloaded of their cargo.[12] When the severity of the hurricane became clear, local officials ensured moorings were secure and orchestrated the positioning of ships to minimize risk of collisions.[9] Bus and tram services were suspended as conditions worsened, leaving many residents unable to reach their homes for the night.[9]

On the night of August 16–17, winds of 55 mph (89 km/h) and 50 mph (80 km/h) were recorded in San Juan and

anemometers were blown away.[7] It was the long duration of the storm, rather than its intensity alone, which made it so destructive.[13] The northern coast suffered most as the storm wrought havoc on crops, telegraph infrastructure, and buildings of varying construction quality.[15] Poorly built shacks and huts, the residences of impoverished workers, fared the worst.[14] In Camuy, the storm destroyed up to 20 houses, uprooted trees, and sparked two small fires; in the aftermath, the mayor appointed a special commission to facilitate the transfer of relief funds to storm victims. Many of the homeless families received donations from neighbors to help cover basic expenses. The winds unroofed many small huts near the shore of Arecibo, forcing their residents to flee for cover, and knocked down wooden and brick fences. The local telegraph station was rendered inoperative, slowing the initial spread of damage reports.[15] Both the city and outlying rural areas of Manatí incurred widespread damage, with dozens of thatch roofs blown off and some homes left uninhabitable. The basement of a colecturía, or tithe barn, was provided as temporary shelter to poor and injured storm victims. Numerous people in Hatillo were left homeless, and reports there described trees being blown far from where they once stood.[15] Severe damage befell Vega Baja, with at least 28 houses destroyed and many banana, coconut, and other fruit trees toppled.[16] Eight houses were destroyed in Isabela, and one family required rescue after its home was crushed under the dislocated roof of an adjacent building. Many poor families became homeless; some were offered shelter in the homes of local government and Civil Guard officials.[16] A church atrium in the town was destroyed.[17]

Many more

Cataño were demolished.[19]

Heavy rainfall lasted two to three days in some locations.

Bayamón, were made impassable by both fallen trees and deep floodwaters.[19] With mail routes blocked and telegraph communications severed, the full extent of the destruction was slow to be revealed.[14] On the day after the storm, workers began to clear railways and reestablish communications.[15]

Several ships were destroyed and others left stranded on the beach. The

Arecibo, the British schooner Robbie Godfrey broke free from its moorings in port while being loaded with sugar. The ship was driven aground and destroyed, along with its cargo, but all hands were able to reach the shore with the assistance of rescue brigades. One crewman was hospitalized for an arm injury.[15][19] The schooner Martiniguesi, loaded with cattle en route to Martinique, went ashore at Maunabo, with one crewman and numerous head of cattle killed.[16] The sloop Pepito was lost at Cataño.[19] Sea baths along the shore were destroyed.[9]

Among all agricultural losses, that of the year's coffee crop was most significant.

Puerto Rican pesos. In some localities, only crops in sheltered valleys survived.[16] As much as 60% of the coffee harvest was lost to the storm in Comerío.[20] The storm was locally referred to as "San Roque" since it began on the feast day of Saint Roch, known as San Roque in Spanish.[7][9] It was among the last significant tropical cyclones to affect Puerto Rico before the island came under United States rule in 1898.[13] Some contemporary accounts drew comparisons to the devastating San Felipe hurricane of 1876.[16] The hurricane caused four known fatalities in Puerto Rico.[8]

United States

The racing yacht Volunteer was badly damaged by the storm in Massachusetts.

On the far western periphery of the hurricane, parts of

warning signals were raised along the coast 24 hours before onset. Consequently, shipping interests generally endured the storm without major losses.[23]

Throughout

Sandy Hook, where a yacht was wrecked.[22]

President Grover Cleveland sheltered in his summer home of Gray Gables during the storm. His yacht was narrowly saved from being swept ashore.[23] Rainfall in Boston commenced in the late evening of August 20 and continued through the following afternoon, totaling 1.65 in (42 mm); the Charles River breached its banks, flooding the Cambridgeport neighborhood of Cambridge up to 3 ft (0.9 m) deep. At Nantasket Beach in the town of Hull, immense swells drew crowds of onlookers, photographers, and artists before the surf action began damaging boardwalks and carnival game booths. Roads in Plymouth were littered with broken tree limbs, and several pleasure craft in Plymouth Harbor were blown aground.[23]

Great damage to grain crops also plagued the neighboring state of Rhode Island.[23][27] Two sailors were rescued after their boat capsized in Newport Harbor. A fishing schooner drifted to sea with its crew aboard; it was ultimately rescued by a tug south of the Brenton Reef Light. Numerous ships rode out the storm in the shelter of Dutch Island in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, being "tossed like cockle shells on the swirling waters" as described by the Fall River Daily Evening News .[28] One of Ethel Swift's two anchor chains broke, resulting in a wreck on the western shore of the bay. The schooner's crew of four was safely rescued.[28] Further up the bay, three ships were blown aground on Prudence Island.[27] A yacht race set for August 21 around Newport was postponed because of the bad weather.[29] Some 17 fire alarm call boxes in Charlestown, Rhode Island, were rendered inoperative, so firefighters had to patrol the town continuously through the night of August 20–21.[27]

Canada

Though in a weakened state, the cyclone battered the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Writing for Cape Breton's Magazine, Michael L. MacDonald wrote that it was "one of the most notorious marine storms in the history of Nova Scotia".[4] There, the storm came to be known as the "Second Great August Gale", in reference to a catastrophic hurricane in August 1837.[11][30] Throughout the Maritimes, dozens of large ships were stranded or destroyed.[4] Warning signals were hoisted in Nova Scotia on the evening of August 20, and ultimately lowered near midday on August 22.[31]

In

Cape Breton;[33] in Ingonish, two ships were left stranded on the shore and six fishing boats drifted out to sea. Residents of the rural community fled their homes at the height of the storm to seek shelter in nearby valleys.[31]

Late on the night of August 21, the steamship Dorcas, with barge Etta Stewart in tow, wrecked on the notoriously hazardous reef surrounding Shut-In Island, near the entrance to Three Fathom Harbour.[4][34] Both vessels were loaded with coal en route from Sydney to Halifax. It is likely that the barge took on water in the heavy seas, making it impossible to steer and causing both ships to drift inexorably toward shore in the strong southerly winds.[4] After hitting the rocks, the steamer overturned, losing its engine, boilers, and cargo, and came to rest inverted on the beach. The barge broke up, littering the shore with timbers.[4][34] All crew-members and passengers, totaling 24 people, were killed: Dorcas carried a crew of 10, plus the chief engineer's pregnant wife and 4 children in their care, while 8 crewmen and one passenger were on Etta Stewart.[4][35] All bodies but one were recovered. The small community of Louisbourg, home to 16 of the victims and many of their families, was left reeling, and a rare government inquiry into the disaster was opened; it concluded that the wreck was beyond the control of Captain Angus Ferguson of Dorcas, who "sacrificed his own life in his endeavour to save those on board the two vessels".[4] The commissioner of the inquiry acknowledged that cutting the barge free may have increased the chance of survival for the crew and passengers of Dorcas, but dismissed this as a viable option:

"It may be considered by some that it would have been more prudent and wise for the master of the Dorcas to have disconnected his steamer from the barge at some safe time before approaching the breakers, in order to enable his vessel to reach off shore and thus have made an effort to save the larger number of people on board the steamer at the sacrifice of the less number of people on board the barge.
"Had Captain Ferguson, however, acted in such a manner and been successful in saving the steamer with those on board, he would have forever been branded as a coward when he reached the land and laid himself open to the serious charge of deliberately and wilfully sacrificing the lives of many human beings for the sake of saving his own. To a brave man this would have been intolerable and it must be acknowledged that in acting as he did he displayed the genuine characteristics of a noble seaman, when, amidst the dangers of such a hurricane and wild sea, he met death at the post of duty."[4]

Despite the tragedy at Shut-In Island, the loss of life in Nova Scotia was considered low relative to the large number of shipwrecks.[35][36]

Extensive storm damage, including downed trees and telegraph wires, collapsed barns, and sunk vessels along the coast, was reported in parts of

General Assembly of Newfoundland, David C. Webber.[36] St. John's reported powerful winds that toppled trees.[31]

See also

Notes

  1. feast days was among the earliest informal tropical cyclone naming systems, and lasted for centuries prior to the introduction of standardized naming conventions.[1][2] This was the third storm bearing the local name "San Roque".[3] See also: Calendar of saints § Connection to tropical cyclones
    .

References

  1. ^ "Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Hurricane Center. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  2. ^ Yanez, Anthony (September 7, 2017). "From Adrian to Zelda: A History of Hurricane Names". NBC4 Southern California. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Changes in HURDAT". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane Research Division. November 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  4. ^
    OCLC 67618392. Archived from the original
    on September 22, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  5. ^
    ISSN 0027-0644
    .
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Atlantic hurricane best track (HURDAT version 2)" (Database). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane Research Division. 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Fernández-Partagás, José; Diaz, Henry F. (1995). A Reconstruction of Historical Tropical Cyclone Frequency in the Atlantic from Documentary and other Historical Sources Part IV: 1891–1900: Year 1893 (PDF) (Report). NOAA Hurricane Research Division. pp. 40–42. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Mújica-Baker, Frank. Huracanes y Tormentas que han afectadi a Puerto Rico (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Agencia Estatal para el Manejo de Emergencias, and Administracion de Desastres. p. 10. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  9. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ^ a b c Bowyer, Peter (October 29, 2003). "Hurricane Juan Storm Summary". Environment and Climate Change Canada. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  12. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ^
    OCLC 807374
    .
  14. ^ a b c Rivera, Abimael Castro; Barreto, Amarilys Arocho. "Los últimos Santos de categoría 3". Proyecto 1867 (in Spanish). University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  15. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  17. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  18. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  19. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  20. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  21. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  22. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  23. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  24. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  25. ^ "Six drowned". Portland Daily Press. August 25, 1893. p. 1. Retrieved April 15, 2020 – via Library of Congress.
  26. ^ United States Life-Saving Service (November 26, 1894). Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1894 (Report). United States Department of the Treasury. p. 363. Retrieved April 15, 2020 – via Google Books.
  27. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  28. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  29. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  30. ISBN 9781442615991. Retrieved April 8, 2020 – via Google Books
    .
  31. ^ a b c d e f g Carpmael, Charles (December 20, 1893). "Storm warnings". Monthly Weather Review. 16. Meteorological Service of Canada: 10. Retrieved April 10, 2020 – via Google Books.
  32. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  33. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  34. ^
    OCLC 235821506. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via Google Books
    .
  35. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  36. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  37. ^ Schwartz, Stuart B. (1992). The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901 (PDF). Latin American Studies (Report). Duke University Press. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
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