The 1920 Louisiana hurricane was a strong

tropical cyclone 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. Depen ...

that caused significant damage in parts of

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 September 1920. The second tropical storm and hurricane of the annual hurricane season, it formed from an area of disturbed weather on September 16, 1920, northwest of Colombia. The system remained a weak tropical depression as it made landfall on

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

, but later intensified to tropical storm strength as it moved across 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. ...

, prior to making a second landfall on the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

. Once in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, the storm quickly intensified as it moved towards the north-northwest, reaching its peak intensity as a

Category 2 hurricane Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * ...

with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) prior to making

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

near Houma, Louisiana with no change in intensity. Afterwards, it quickly weakened over land, before dissipating on September 23 over eastern

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. As it approached the

United States Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Missis ...

, the hurricane forced an estimated 4,500 people to evacuate off of

Galveston Island Galveston Island ( ) is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County. T ...

, and numerous other evacuations and precautionary measures to occur. At landfall, the hurricane generated strong winds along a wide swath of the coast, uprooting trees and causing damage to homes and other infrastructure. Heavy rainfall associated with the storm peaked at in

Robertsdale, Alabama Robertsdale is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, which includes the community of Rosinton. At the 2020 census, the population was 6,708. It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area. Geography Robertsdale is loca ...

. The heavy rains also washed out

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s, leading to several rail accidents. Across the Gulf Coast, damage from the storm totaled to $1.45 million, and one death was associated with the hurricane.

Meteorological history

In mid-September, a trough moved across the central

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and into the vicinity of the Colombian islands. Becoming more organized, it developed a closed circulation on September 16, and as such was classified as a

tropical depression 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. Depend ...

at 0600 UTC that day. For much of its early existence the depression remained weak, with winds remaining at and a minimum

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

below . The weak disturbance later made landfall at that intensity on 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 ...

near the border of Honduras and

by 0600 UTC on September 18. The small system gained intensity as it moved over Honduras, attaining tropical storm strength on September 19 prior to entering the

near Trujillo. In the Gulf of Honduras, the tropical storm slightly intensified to

maximum sustained wind The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unl ...

s of on September 20, and later made landfall on the

as it accelerated towards the north-northwest. Despite initially being reported to have maintained intensity across the peninsula, a reanalysis of the storm determined that it had weakened to minimal tropical storm strength, before entering the

late on September 20. The weakened tropical storm began to intensify once in the Gulf of Mexico. On September 20 at 0600 UTC, the storm reached hurricane intensity as a modern-day Category 1 hurricane. Continuing to intensify in the Gulf, the hurricane attained

intensity at 0000 UTC on September 22, and subsequently reached its peak intensity with winds of and an estimated minimum pressure of . The hurricane later made

at peak intensity near Houma, Louisiana at 0100 UTC later that day. Maximum winds spanned from the center at landfall. Ships offshore the

coast also reported an eye associated with the hurricane. Once over land, the system began to quickly weaken, degenerating to tropical storm strength by 0600 UTC the same day, while located near

Iberville Parish Iberville Parish (french: Paroisse d'Iberville) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located south of Baton Rouge in the U.S. state of Louisiana, formed in 1807. The parish seat is Plaquemine, Louisiana, Plaquemine. At the 2010 U.S. census, ...

. Continuing to accelerate towards the north-northwest, it is estimated that the tropical cyclone dissipated on September 23 over

, based on observations from nearby

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

Preparations and impact

1920 Louisiana hurricane rainfall totals

Hurricane warning Tropical cyclone warnings and watches are alerts issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity. They are notices to the local popul ...

s were initially issued for areas of the Gulf Coast between Morgan City, Louisiana and Corpus Christi, Texas, but were later moved eastward to coastal regions between Pensacola, Florida and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

as the hurricane progressed closer to the coast. Additional marine warnings were also issued for offshore regions that could be potentially affected by the hurricane, and boats were evacuated into

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

s. Onshore,

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

s on

were moved to the mainland in preparation for the storm.

Interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

railways also evacuated people out of the island, with an estimated 4,500 people being evacuated. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

were ordered to be ready for immediate service in the event of an emergency, while the

US National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.barracks in

Fort Crockett Fort Crockett is a government reservation on Galveston Island overlooking the Gulf of Mexico originally built as a defense installation to protect the city and harbor of Galveston and to secure the entrance to Galveston Bay, thus protecting the c ...

Oil companies The following is a list of notable companies in the petroleum industry that are engaged in petroleum exploration and production. The list is in alphabetical order by continent and then by country. This list does not include companies only involved ...

abandoned operations in coastal oil fields in advance of the hurricane. People along

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 ...

evacuated into New Orleans, causing hotels to overflow and forcing refugees to take shelter in other public buildings including

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

s. Strong winds and gusts were reported across the Gulf Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. A ship reported a minimum central barometric pressure of just prior to the storm's intensification into a hurricane.

Grand Isle, Louisiana Grand Isle is a town in Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on a barrier island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico. The island is at the mouth of Barataria Bay where it meets the gulf. The town of Grand Isle is statistica ...

reported sustained winds of , and winds of at least were reported as far east as Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. As a result, numerous trees were uprooted and

power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...

s were downed. One death occurred New Orleans after being

electrocuted Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

by an electric wire that had been downed by the hurricane's strong winds. The downed power lines also caused a lack of communication from areas affected, hampering relief efforts. In New Orleans, at least 2,500 telephones were without service, and homes were unroofed by the strong winds. Along the coast and further inland, rainfall was concentrated primarily on the eastern half of the cyclone, with most rain occurring from September 21 to the 23rd. In

, of rain was recorded, the most associated with the hurricane. A 24–hour September rainfall record was set when of rain was measured in Kelly, Louisiana. However, due to the system's rapid dissipation over land, rainfall amounts remained generally less than in interior regions of Louisiana. In

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, rainfall peaked at in

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

. The heavy rains caused washouts and damage to

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

across Louisiana. A train running from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

was left stranded after being washed out near

Chef Menteur Pass The Chef Menteur Pass is a narrow natural waterway which, along with the Rigolets, connects Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in New Orleans, Louisiana. It begins at and follows a generally southeastward course. In the days of sailing ships, mu ...

, and other rail operations were stopped between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

s of above average were reported in

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne (french: Lac Borgne, es, Lago Borgne) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Its name comes fro ...

and

Mississippi Sound The Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about . The sound is sepa ...

as the hurricane moved over the coast, while tides of above average were reported in Biloxi, Mississippi. The strong storm surge caused considerable damage to Grand Isle and Manilla Village, Louisiana. Due to the hurricane's landfall near low tide, however, major storm surge impacts were mitigated. Overall infrastructural damage caused by the hurricane totaled to $750,000, while

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

related damage, particularly to

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

, totaled to $700,000.

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 2 1920 natural disasters in the United States 1920s Atlantic hurricane seasons Category 2 Atlantic hurricanes Hurricanes in Louisiana 1920 in Louisiana 1920 in Texas 1920 in Cuba 1920 meteorology

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

See also

Notes

References