1893 Hurricane San Roque

Hurricane San Roque was a destructive tropical cyclone in August 1893 that principally affected Puerto Rico, eastern New England, and Atlantic Canada. Its informal name in Puerto Rico arises from the feast day of Saint Roch, or ''San Roque'' in Spanish, which coincided with the hurricane's landfall on that island. 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 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". 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

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 Intertropical Convergence Zone off the northern coast of South America. In the Atlantic hurricane database, its formation as a tropical storm is entered on August 13, corresponding with the first observation of the system, about east of Trinidad and Tobago. It crossed the Lesser Antilles island arc on August 15, passing between Dominica and Guadeloupe. The intensifying cyclone moved toward the northwest and by 18:00 UTC on August 16, it was centered very close to St. Croix. Upon receiving the first report of the storm from Saint Thomas, the U.S. Weather Bureau issued a special bulletin relaying the current position of the hurricane, forecasting its recurvature by August 21, and advising shipping interests to take necessary precautions. At 00:00 UTC on August 17, the cyclone made landfall near Patillas, Puerto Rico, as the equivalent of a Category 3 major hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale. Modern reanalysis efforts estimated the intensity at landfall through the severity of wind damage in Puerto Rico, which was consistent with F2 on the Fujita scale. The eye was marked by a period of stark calm as it crossed the island such that during its passage, some people believed the storm to be over. At San Juan, to the north of the center path, barometric pressure fell to . Approximately seven hours after moving ashore, the center exited Puerto Rico between Isabela and Quebradillas.

On August 18, weather stations along the Atlantic coast of the Southeastern U.S. started to register the hurricane's distant influence. It passed over or close to the Turks and Caicos Islands. While situated northeast of the Bahamas on August 19, the hurricane began its recurvature to the north and ultimately northeast. Late on August 20 and into the following day, gale

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