- Also called:
- San Calixto Hurricane, Hurricane San Calixto II, or Great Caribbean Hurricane of 1780
- Date:
- October 1780
Great Hurricane of 1780
Which islands experienced the greatest loss of life during the Great Hurricane of 1780?
What impact did the Great Hurricane of 1780 have on European naval forces?
What was the path of the Great Hurricane of 1780?
Great Hurricane of 1780, major tropical cyclone that cut across several islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea, causing widespread death and devastation in the region from October 9 to October 15, 1780. The hurricane was the deadliest on record in the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 20,000 people. The greatest loss of life was centered on the Antilles islands of Barbados, Martinique, and Sint Eustatius. The hurricane was the most destructive in a series of five powerful storms that laid waste to several Caribbean islands and parts of mainland North America’s coast during the summer and fall of 1780.
Development and path
Although the Great Hurricane of 1780 took place long before the advent of modern weather bureaus and advanced storm tracking, historical accounts have provided a wealth of information about the storm and its path. Reports noted that the outer edge of the storm first arrived at Barbados on October 9. The next day violent winds leveled nearly all the homes, left few trees standing, and killed more than 4,300 people. Witness reports from Barbados and Saint Lucia said that sturdy stone buildings and forts were completely lost to the wind, with even heavy cannons carried hundreds of feet.
As the hurricane raged northwest across the Antilles, it intensified to a category 4 or category 5 storm, according to estimates by present-day meteorologists (see also Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale). On some islands entire towns were said to have disappeared. According to reports, the hurricane reached Saint Lucia by October 11 before ravaging Martinique, where about 9,000 people died, and Sint Eustatius, where the death toll was 4,000–5,000 lives. During this period of world history, European naval forces were concentrated in the Caribbean as countries fought for control of the area; the American Revolution provided opportunities for the French and Spanish to take advantage of British forces that were spread thin. The hurricane inflicted particularly large losses on both British and French assets and personnel. British losses included nine warships heavily damaged and the sinking of 15 other ships; the storm also sank more than 40 French vessels near Martinique and claimed the lives of 4,000 French soldiers.
The hurricane continued to move northwest in the days that followed. Reports documented the storm’s passage south of Puerto Rico (where it became known as the San Calixto Hurricane or Hurricane San Calixto II) on October 14 and between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico on October 15 before turning sharply to the north and northeast. Moving over the open waters of the Atlantic, it damaged or sank many other ships that were returning to Europe, and witnesses on Bermuda said the storm drove as many as 50 ships ashore and damaged many of the island’s buildings. It is thought to have dissipated on October 20 near Newfoundland.
The Atlantic hurricane season of 1780
The Great Hurricane should be viewed within the context of the storm season of 1780. The Atlantic hurricane season that year was one of the deadliest in the basin’s history. It commenced with two tropical cyclones that resulted in tremendous damage and loss of life. The Saint Lucia Hurricane, which passed over Saint Lucia in the Windward Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola in June, resulted in the deaths of up to 5,000 people on Puerto Rico alone. This hurricane was followed in late August by another storm that heavily damaged the city of New Orleans and killed at least 25 people there. Despite the devastation brought by these early-season storms, the ruin caused by the Great Hurricane of 1780 and two others that formed during October was far greater.
The Savanna-la-Mar Hurricane preceded the Great Hurricane of 1780 by just a few days. It made landfall on southwestern Jamaica on October 3 and killed between 1,100 and 3,000 people as it passed over Jamaica, Cuba, and The Bahamas. The storm also destroyed the port city of Savanna-la-Mar in Jamaica and ruined much of the island’s sugarcane crop. Some accounts noted that parts of the coast were inundated by a surge of seawater that may have been as high as 20 feet (6 meters) above sea level. British Col. John Dalling, Jamaica’s governor, wrote of the Savanna-la-Mar Hurricane in his official report to London: “The sea broke suddenly in upon the town, and on its retreat swept everything away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of Man, Beast, or House behind.”
“The sea broke suddenly in upon the town, and on its retreat swept everything away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of Man, Beast, or House behind.” —Jamaican governor John Dalling
As the Great Hurricane of 1780 weakened over colder waters of the North Atlantic, Solano’s Hurricane, named for Spanish Adm. Don José Solano y Bote, was emerging in the western Caribbean Sea. The storm skirted the southern coast of Jamaica on October 15 before tracking north through the Yucatán Channel and over Cuba’s southern coast. It collided with Solano’s 64-ship fleet at sea on October 20; the fleet was on its way to attack Pensacola in British-controlled West Florida with 4,000 Spanish troops (see also West Florida Controversy). The storm, however, caused so much damage to the ships that Solano canceled the attack. Solano’s Hurricane made landfall on West Florida sometime after October 21, and it was blamed for the deaths of more than 2,000 people, which included those lost at sea and those killed on land.
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