The 1906 Florida Keys hurricane was a powerful and deadly hurricane that had a major impact on

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 ...

and southern Florida. The fifth hurricane and third major hurricane of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, the storm formed from a system near

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 ...

on October 4. By October 8, it had intensified into a tropical storm, and made landfall as a hurricane in Central America. The hurricane traveled towards Cuba, making landfall and wreaking havoc on the island. The storm then made a third landfall in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of ...

during the evening of October 18. At least 240 people were killed as a result of the hurricane, and damages totaled at least $4,135,000. Of the 240 people killed during the storm, 135 were workers on the

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a ...

. The hurricane eventually led to the end of pineapple production in the Florida Keys for commercial purposes in 1915, although this was amplified by two further hurricanes in the following years.

Meteorological history

The hurricane originated from a "cyclonic perturbation" near

on October 4, as reported by local newspapers. On October 5, no closed circulation was evident in the system. In

Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was l ...

, a report was sent to the

Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

, reporting sinking barometric pressures on October 6. It was recognized as a tropical storm early on October 8, with winds of , while located in the southwestern Caribbean. As the system continued to move west on October 9, it strengthened into a hurricane, and while it began to curve toward the west-northwest, further strengthening occurred, as it intensified into a Category 2 hurricane. The hurricane made landfall in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

on October 10 as a Category 3 hurricane. The system quickly weakened to a tropical storm as it traveled west-northwestward on October 11, later passing over the

Gulf of Honduras The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km (125 miles) from Dangriga, Belize, to La Ceiba, Honduras ...

. It later struck Belize on October 13 as a strong Category 1 hurricane on October 13, tracking north-northwestward. The system weakened into a tropical storm by October 14 but restrengthened into a Category 1 hurricane by October 16. As the hurricane began to turn northeastward, it continued to intensify, attaining Category 3 status by early October 17. The hurricane continued to approach

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

during the day, and the hurricane's center passed east of Havana during the evening. The hurricane passed over southern Florida on the morning of October 18 moving northeastward, and over the next few days turned north and slowed down to the east of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

. The hurricane began to weaken as it was forced to curve south-southwestward, striking Florida again as the result of a

high-pressure area A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

. The system eventually weakened to a tropical depression over Florida, and traced southwestward into the Gulf of Mexico. On October 23, the remnants of the hurricane struck Central America and dissipated on October 23.

Preparations and impact

Central America

The town of

Bluefields Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regio ...

suffered moderate damage during the hurricane, including downed trees and damage to roofs. In western

, widespread flooding damaged roads and disrupted the construction of a port in Corinto. In

Matagalpa Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 111,258 (2021 estimate), Several landslides occurred, leading to the destruction of many hills. In addition, local crops suffered much damage, including much of the local banana and rubber crops. A large wave measuring caused by the storm was described off

, and caused brief disappearances of the Seal Cays. Along the

Mosquito Coast The Mosquito Coast, also known as the Mosquitia or Mosquito Shore, historically included the area along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. It formed part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskit ...

, the town of

Prinzapolka Prinzapolka () is a Miskito municipality in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. Prinzapolka (sometimes spelled Prinzapolca) is also an important river and river basin in the Caribbean Coast Region of Nicaragua. Languag ...

was nearly wiped out by the hurricane. Damage to fruit plantations in Costa Rica totaled $1,000,000.

Cuba

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

sustained major damage from the hurricane, with 50 houses destroyed, and cable operators in Miami,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

, and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

were unable to reach telegraph services in the city. The wall of the

American legation The Tangier American Legation ( ar, المفوضية الأميركية في طنجة; french: Légation américaine de Tanger), officially the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIMS), is a building in the ''medina'' of ...

was blown down.

Vedado Vedado ( es, El Vedado, ) is a central business district and urban neighborhood in the city of Havana, Cuba. Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Central Havana, and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar / Playa district, ...

's sea baths were severely damaged. Havana's streetcar service was temporarily disrupted by the storm. Trees were blown down in the parks of Havana. Twenty people were killed in the city, while in Batabanó, nine people were killed, with many others missing. In

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

, the location of the United States' 28th Infantry, tents were destroyed and there was widespread damage. However, nobody was killed or injured in the city. In

San Luis San Luis (Spanish for "Saint Louis") may refer to: Places Argentina * San Luis Province * San Luis, Argentina, capital of San Luis Province Belize * San Luis, Belize, in Orange Walk District Colombia * San Luis, Antioquia, a town and municipality ...

, tobacco crops were ruined, and 150 tobacco barns in the

Alquízar Alquízar () is a town and municipality in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1616, as a coffee plantation owned by ''Don Sancho de Alquízar'', who gives the name of the community. In 1826, a garriso ...

municipality were destroyed. The sugar crop in

Pinar del Río Province Pinar del Río is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. Geography The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost province and contains one of Cuba's three main mountain ranges, the Cordillera de Guanig ...

survived well during the hurricane. In the La Guria section of Cuba, the banana crops were completely destroyed. Rivers topped their banks throughout the country.

Florida

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, over 100 houses were destroyed, and the Episcopal and Methodist churches were completely destroyed. The jail in Miami was nearly completely dismantled, and the prisoners were evacuated. In Fort Pierce, the Peninsula and Occidental railcar sheds collapsed, with the roofs blown away. A two-story brick saloon was destroyed during the hurricane. The Miami telegraph office reported street flooding in the city, and that the telegraph office was flooded. Damage in Miami amounted to $160,000. In

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, houses and trees were knocked down. In

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

, the tide was described as the "highest in ten years," where streets were flooded throughout the city. At least 70 passengers on the steamers ''St. Lucia'' and ''Peerless'' drowned during the storm near

Elliott Key Elliott Key is the northernmost of the true Florida Keys (those 'keys' which are ancient coral reefs lifted above the present sea level), and the largest key north of Key Largo. It is located entirely within Biscayne National Park, in Miami-Dade ...

. The steamers ''Campbell'' and the ''Sara'' were destroyed near the Isle of Pines, and the ''Elmora'' sank. Telegraph lines were also down south of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

. The effects of the hurricane were most severe on the

, where at least 135 people died, 104 of them on ''Houseboat No. 4'', one of the railway's boats. Many of the workers were swept to sea on barges and flatboats; however, the steamer ''Jenny'' rescued 42 workers, who were dropped off at Key West, while another 24 were sent to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. The railway's losses totaled about $200,000. Construction was disrupted for a whole year by the storm, as equipment was reassembled and repaired. Many farmers on the

suffered large losses; orange groves and fields of pineapples were devastated by the storm. Six people died on plantations in the Keys. At the government wharf, the ''Fessenden'' was damaged during the hurricane.

Aftermath

Following the hurricane, all workers of the Florida East Coast Railway were provided with wooden barracks on land, and several additional safety measures were enforced. The hurricane eventually led to the end of the commercial production of pineapples in the Florida Keys. In 1947,

Project Cirrus Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into them and seeding with silver iodide. The project was run by the United States Government from 1962 to 1983. The hypothesis was that the silver iodide would caus ...

attempted to use the method of

cloud seeding Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical ...

in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

. Approximately of crushed

dry ice Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimates directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily ...

were seeded into the 1947 hurricane. The system was successfully seeded; however, soon after the seeding, the hurricane changed course and traced toward Charleston, South Carolina. Following the seeding, the project was cancelled and numerous lawsuits were filed as the result of the sudden change of the path in the storm. However, the similar path of this hurricane prevented the success of the lawsuits.

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

External links

Monthly Weather Review

{{1906 Atlantic hurricane season buttons 1900s Atlantic hurricane seasons Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes Hurricanes in Barbados Hurricanes in Costa Rica Hurricanes in Cuba Hurricanes in Florida Hurricanes in Nicaragua Florida Keys hurricane 1906 natural disasters in the United States 1906 meteorology