The Great Barbados hurricane was an intense
Category 4 hurricane that left cataclysmic damage across the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and
Louisiana in 1831.
Meteorological history
A possible
Cape Verde hurricane, the storm slammed into
Barbados, leveling the capital of
Bridgetown on August 10. Some 1,500 people perished, either drowned by the
storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...
that the hurricane brought or crushed beneath collapsed buildings (including the
St. John's Parish Church, Barbados
St. John's Parish Church in Barbados is the first church of St. John that is presumed to have been a simple wooden building, but its date is unknown. The parish along with St. George, was carved out of St. Michael in 1640–1641. But successive ...
).
It produced great damage in
Saint Vincent and
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
, and slightly touched
Martinique.
On August 12, it arrived in
Puerto Rico. Moving past
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and
Cuba, it nearly destroyed the town of
Les Cayes and damaged
Santiago de Cuba, and then crossed the entire length of
Cuba, 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 as a
Category 3 hurricane on August 17. There it flooded parts of New Orleans from its storm surge in
Lake Pontchartrain and also causing hail. The back part of the city of New Orleans was completely inundated. It was simultaneously felt at
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
and
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, and extended to
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...
up the
Mississippi river. 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 (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