Market1846 Havana hurricane
Company Profile

1846 Havana hurricane

The 1846 Havana hurricane was the most intense tropical cyclone in recorded history for 78 years and the first known Category 5-strength hurricane to strike Cuba. The first indications of the formation of a disturbance were first noted on 5 October in the Caribbean Sea, but little else was known until the storm approached Cuba on 10 October. There, it brought extreme winds and the lowest known atmospheric pressure of the time – 938 millibars (27.7 inHg) – a record which remained unbroken until the development of a later cyclone in 1924. It soon curved toward Florida, where it maintained its intensity, continuing to rapidly hasten northward along the East Coast of the United States to New England. It entered an extratropical transition while situated over New York on 13 October, producing intense Category 2-force winds and unusually little precipitation. Eventually, the gale dissipated over the Canadian Maritimes the following day as a markedly weaker storm.

Meteorological history
The hurricane's origins can be traced to the central Caribbean Sea on 5 October. The following day, its passage south of Jamaica was observed, and soon later, the hurricane transited across the Cayman Islands, producing relatively high winds. This was accompanied by Category 5-force winds on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, defined as 1-minute maximum sustained winds of at least . Despite the reading, a 1993 analysis by weather historian José Fernández-Partagás calculated a corrected sea-level pressure at ; even so, the value maintained the hurricane as the most intense in recorded history. It arrived at Key West the morning of 11 October, soon after its departure from Cuba, with undiminished intensity. Winds, which initially swept northeasterly at force 4 during the early evening, veered toward the southeast and peaked at force 8 the following morning. Weather historian David Ludlum tracked the hurricane's path past Cedar Key, noting the disturbance's northeastward curve as it neared Jacksonville. Advancing northward over land, the once-powerful hurricane weakened, with somewhat higher atmospheric pressures and winds of less severity reported at Charleston, South Carolina. Paralleling the coast while situated inland, it hastened quickly toward the north, swiftly passing through North Carolina and arriving in the Chesapeake Bay region by 13 October. The gale's winds swept toward the southeast with a brief hiatus in the early evening. As it neared New England, it produced little precipitation yet intense gusts, which peaked at force 9-strength in the vicinity of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The cyclone's diameter over New England, at its largest point, reached , accompanied by Category 2-force winds. The system was last sighted on the morning of 14 October, rapidly weakening as it meandered into the Canadian Maritimes. == Impact ==
Impact
In Cuba, the hurricane's impact was extremely severe: the storm destroyed nearly a hundred ships and likely killed hundreds of individuals across the island, more severe even than an earlier hurricane in 1844. while other records noted that hundreds of deaths had possibly occurred across the island. Celebrations coinciding with the birthday of Isabella II of Spain held in Havana, Cuba, on 10 October were disrupted by heavy rains and strong winds, indicative of the hurricane's imminent arrival that evening. Following the storm's landfall, the most severe damage as a result of the storm was observed from eastern regions of Pinar del Río to western Matanzas. Already soaked by weeks of constant rainfall, with swollen rivers, inundated roads, and spoiled tobacco crops, existing problems were only further exacerbated; at Paso Real de San Diego, cassava, sweet potato, and other vianda harvests were ruined. In Havana proper, waves battered ships seeking refuge in the city's harbor, grounded, driven away, capsized, and smashed, with much of their cargo, composing of cartons of sugar, bales of tobacco, and fragments of hemp, barrels, and cases strewn along the shore and sea. In all, the gale destroyed or seriously damaged 105 commercial ships, 70 sloops, pilot boats, and military craft, as well as 111 other vessels at sea; as a result, shortages of many essential goods occurred in inland provinces. Damage in Cuban port cities was only further aggravated by the amount of debris produced by the destruction of ships, warehouses, and docks, which were in turn blown into harborside structures by powerful gusts. Masonry buildings bore the brunt of the storm, with the recently overhauled Teatro Principal wholly obliterated, The storm covered streets with planks, tiles, and other debris, uprooted and defoliated palm trees, ruined gardens, and damaged balconies. The massive storm surge associated with the system annihilated and washed away most of the huts and houses of Batabanó, with only 20 left standing. Food and water supplies were lost, while the retreating tides left behind inches of mud and mounds of debris in their wake. At Caimito and Rosario, warehouses, their contents, piers, and wharves were all driven out into the neighboring ocean, and both towns were entirely flattened. The hurricane destroyed all the piers and nearly every building in Cabañas, and of the 23 houses built in Cojimar, only seven weathered the storm. A majority of ships at Matanzas were destroyed, with numerous ships capsized or washed aground. Massive waves crashed ashore, crushing buildings and inundating low-lying areas in the city. Many wooden and stone buildings, already impaired by an earlier hurricane in 1844, were immediately destroyed by the surge's impact. Structures along the shoreline, in addition to towns along the courses of the Yumurí and San Juan rivers, were driven out to sea. More than forty deaths occurred in the first round of flooding brought by the storm. At Güines, the tempest wrecked all of the town's residences, public buildings, and businesses, and over a hundred individuals died. Not a single residence remained undamaged after the hurricane's passage in Bejucal, San Antonio de los Baños, Santiago de Las Vegas, and Mariel, and those that were not destroyed were unroofed. Nueva Paz suffered the loss of 110 homes, while Madruga lost 100; only five remained standing at Managua, and of the eight left at Quivicán, all were severely damaged. At Jibacoa, only 32 of the town's 82 residences survived the storm. The seaside town of Guanabo was entirely lost, with floodwaters driving the town to sea and leaving its residents homeless. The hamlets of Mantilla, La Chorrera, and Paula disappeared entirely, while Candelaria was washed away with the loss of all its structures, of which a majority collapsed under the strength of the storm's powerful winds before being driven out to sea. Most structures in Cayajabos, Boyeros, and Aguacate were flattened, while the villages of Alquízar, Güira de Melena, and Vereda Nueva essentially vanished after the storm passed through. Guatao was entirely destroyed, suffering the loss of its apparently indestructible church, while Quemado wholly vanished and only four houses endured the storm's impacts at San Antonio de los Baños. The -storm surge in Key West proper swept through downtown and forced many to abandon their homes; many attempted to flee to higher ground ("the highest piece of land — seventeen feet high, with waves threatening to push them off") but were still killed or injured. All wharves and warehouses in the town suffered some degree of damage, and of the approximately six hundred residences on the key, only six endured the storm's fury successfully, with the others unroofed or flattened by intense winds. Fort Zachary Taylor, partially obliterated by the hurricane, endured over $200,000 in damage, while the nearby customs-house was also harmed. Uprooted trees and debris from destroyed houses rendered roads impassable. The storm also changed the landscape within the vicinity, washing away Sand Key entirety. Every vessel at local harbor sustained serious damage; in addition, some 20 vessels were unaccounted for, and at least 40 deaths were documented, An additional twelve died inland as a result death by being impaled, crushed, or drowned. Powerful winds and the storm's massive flood tide washed lumber and casks aboard ships. Massive pieces of timber, hurled across town, cracked walls and inflicted significant damage. Floodwaters deep submerged already debris-clogged streets, with inundation as deep as in the key's northeastern sector. There, the Lafayette Salt Company was swept away along with two military cemeteries. Floodwaters exhumed many skeletons and coffins in those graveyards, dispersing them across local forests. Several wooden buildings along the shoreline, not tethered to the ground, drifted out to sea upon high waters due to the sheer force of the hurricane's gusts. Other notable maritime losses were also noted nearby, with the deaths of three on the Lafayette, which capsized offshore, one fatality each upon the Exchange and Frankford, and 19 casualties on the Villa Nueva; in addition, several other abandoned vessels were driven aground, apparently without any loss of life. Although little rain fell farther north at Charleston, with merely measured, gusts leveled wharves, uprooted trees, prostrated fences, and unroofed buildings. Despite copious rainfall measurements at Columbia, which received of rainfall, damage was minimal and, for the most part, restricted to crops. but soon encountered the storm and experienced severe damage. In an effort to save the vessel's passengers, it was deliberately run ashore near Jacksonville, Florida, without the loss of any passengers on board; however, the steamer itself was not salvageable. A dozen ships beached or capsized in Charleston's harbors, with many wharves demolished along the city's shoreline. The western part of Tradd Street, especially near Chisolm's Mill and South Bay's sidewalk, eroded as a result of wind and water, which also fractured the South Bay and East Battery walls. Gusts unroofed the Trinity Church along Hasell Street; the roof itself landed in an adjacent graveyard. Unexpectedly low storm tides of at Georgetown, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina inflicted no noteworthy damage. In general, however, the hurricane was reportedly the most severe since 1824 along the southeastern seaboard. Low-lying areas along the Delaware River, including New Castle, Delaware, experienced storm tides not seen since the 1775 Newfoundland hurricane. The floodwaters were high enough to even extinguish a fire in a stationary locomotive which had been impeded by the gale's rainfall. The local Episcopal Church's steeple was tossed away by forceful gusts. To the north at Philadelphia, the tempest was the most intense in 30 years, with its high tides engulfing every wharf in the city; a total of of rain was measured at Pennsylvania Hospital. Despite widespread destruction along the Delaware River, damage to buildings in Philadelphia proper was less severe. At Buffalo, a rupture along the Erie Canal interrupted nearby traffic, and to the east in Dansville, copious rainfall was also recorded. Approximately of rain accompanied low atmospheric pressure readings throughout a wide area, with winds along the gale's eastern fringes, especially at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, remaining intense. In New England, it was generally considered to be the most severe storm since a previous disturbance in October 1841, despite having produced minimal rainfall totals throughout the region, including at New Bedford. Gusts felled trees paralleling both sides of a roadway from Springfield to Amherst. Nearby at Worcester, winds flattened several factories, and also overturned a substantial number trees in the outskirts of Boston. == Aftermath and records ==
Aftermath and records
Immediately following the storm's end, the U.S. Army Quartermaster permitted homeless citizens to rest in its local barracks. Food, water, and supplies were lacking, with most having been washed away, rendered unusable, or become inedible due to the storm's salty storm surge. The Morris's captain obtained supplies from a damaged vessel, sending them to a local Methodist minister. Efforts to reconstruct and recover from the disaster were not immediate due to the lack of available resources. With the loss of area lighthouses, local waters were difficult to navigate, with one shipwreck occurring as a result west of Key West; in response, a staff was placed at the former location of the now-destroyed Key West Lighthouse. Many vessels were also lost near Sand Key Light, The 1846 Havana hurricane was likely of Category 5 intensity, the earliest known tropical cyclone of its strength to strike Cuba. == See also ==
tickerdossier.comtickerdossier.substack.com