The Great Barbados hurricane was an intense
Category 4 hurricane that left cataclysmic damage across the
Caribbean and
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
in 1831.
Meteorological history
A possible
Cape Verde hurricane
A Cape Verde hurricane or Cabo Verde hurricane is an Atlantic hurricane that originates at low-latitude in the deep tropics from a tropical wave that has passed over or near the Cape Verde islands after exiting the coast of West Africa. The avera ...
, the storm slammed into
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, leveling the capital of
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...
on August 10. Some 1,500 people perished, either drowned by the
storm surge that the hurricane brought or crushed beneath collapsed buildings (including the
St. John's Parish Church, Barbados).
It produced great damage in
Saint Vincent and
Saint Lucia, and slightly touched
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
.
On August 12, it arrived in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. Moving past
Haiti and
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, it nearly destroyed the town of
Les Cayes
Les Cayes ( , ), often referred to as Aux Cayes (; ht, Okay), is a commune and seaport in the Les Cayes Arrondissement, in the Sud department of Haiti, with a population of 71,236. Due to its isolation from the political turmoil of the capita ...
and damaged
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains ...
, and then crossed the entire length of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, passing Havana on August 14. Its estimated
Category 4 winds brought ships ashore at
Guantanamo Bay, causing mudslides, and resulted in major structural damage.
It turned to the northwest, where it made landfall near
Last Island, Louisiana
Last Island (Official name: Isle Dernière, often misspelled as Îsle Dernière, Isle Dernier, L'Îsle Dernière, Île Dernière, etc.) was a barrier island and location of a pleasure resort southwest of New Orleans on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana ...
as a
Category 3 hurricane on August 17. There it flooded parts of New Orleans from its storm surge in
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...
and also causing hail. The back part of the city of New Orleans was completely inundated. It was simultaneously felt at
Pensacola, Florida and
Mobile, Alabama, and extended to
Natchez, Mississippi up the
Mississippi river
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
. Its duration was six days from the time it commenced in Barbados and its course cycloidal; the distance passed over by the storm from Barbados to New Orleans is , and the average rate of its progress fourteen miles (21 km) an hour.
Impact
The Great Barbados Hurricane left 2,500 people dead and $7,000,000 () in damage.
See also
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Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Georges () was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde Category 4 hurricane which caused severe destruction as it traversed the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in September 1998, making eight landfalls along its path. Georges was the seve ...
(1998) – had a similar track
Further reading
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1831 Barbados hurricane
Barbados hurricane
1831 Barbados-Louisiana
Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes
Hurricanes in Barbados
Hurricanes in Louisiana
Barbados hurricane
August 1831 events
1831 natural disasters in the United States
1831 in the Caribbean
1831 meteorology