Florida Keys Hurricane
The 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane, which is also known as the “1919 Key West Hurricane” or the “Atlantic Gulf Hurricane” was one of the most massive and damaging tropical cyclones that the United States had ever seen. It began to take form on September 1st/2nd and eventually struck land at Key West, Florida on September 9th, 1919 with the Hurricane beginning to take form near the Lessner Antilles. But before getting into detail on this particular “hurricane,” it is important to know the logistics and basic information regarding them. This is crucial in order to understand how horrific and devastating this hurricane was compared to its counterparts.
For those who are not aware “Hurricane Season” officially begins on June 1st and lasts through November 30th. During this time frame it is most likely to see Earth’s deadliest natural disaster take place. The scientific term for hurricanes is “tropical cyclones” and they are only called hurricanes if they form in the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. These storms are giant balls of energy that use warm/damp air as its fuel which is why they typically form by the equator. Without going into too much detail these storms begin to form by hot air rising, causing low air to fall which creates the swirls and gust of winds above the water. As this model keeps repeating it grows stronger and stronger making it a hurricane based on the wind speed and conditions. When these wind speeds reach 39 miles per hour, it is known as a tropical storm. Once it gets to 74 miles per hour it becomes a hurricane, and then there are five different categories that classify the severity of the storm which can be seen below. 2.
As you can see, a category one storm does only minimal damage while each proceeding category does more damage until you get all the way to a category five storm which leaves catastrophic damage that can destroy communities, cause mass casualties, and ruin people’s lives. With this information it puts the “1919 Florida Keys Hurricane” into better perspective in terms of understanding its severity.
This tropical cyclone goes down in history as one of the most deadly and devastating hurricanes we have ever seen. It was originally poorly organized as it lacked low-level circulation. By September 2nd it became a tropical depression centered off Guadeloupe as it made its way eastward becoming a tropical storm as it neared Puerto Rico. Even on September 4th the storm was still not all that powerful only reaching wind speeds of 50 miles per hour. This held true for almost three days until the seventh of the month. This is when the storm began to become a true force. It became a Category One Hurricane as it passed through The Bahamas. From this point on the storm intensified quickly as it moved westward through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It only took one extra day for it to reach a Category Three Hurricane and then one additional day for it to reach its max potential of a Category Four Hurricane. At this threshold wind speeds are roughly 130-156 miles per hour and cause extreme damage to anything and everything in its path of destruction. At the same point it reached its category four status on September 9th, is when it made its way to the “Sunshine State,” (no pun intended) also known as Florida. 4.
The storms major damage was done to “The Florida Keys” which are islands that are a part of the state of Florida located on its southeast side. As mentioned before, hurricanes gain strength when traveling by its passage on warm water. We also know the higher the category, the more severe the damage left is. Based on the image above we can that the islands of the keys are very thin in width and are surrounded by water in all directions. With all of these previous points in mind even a grammar school student can see how problematic all of these factors in play became when this tropical cyclone hit land. For four straight days this storm bashed the keys with winds up to 130 miles per hour delivering uttermost destruction. Almost every structure throughout the islands had some sort of damage inflicted upon it. Schools, homes, churches, stores, etc. were left in ruins. 6.
The storm caused so much destruction to local communities, and minor cities. Between the flooding and structural damage, the keys had damages that they would feel for years to come. But this was only the beginning of the travesty this storm brought. The Hurricane caused ten ships to sink across the Florida Straits taking the lives of 500 people. 488 of which took place on one giant vessel alone known as the “Valbanera,” which was a Spanish vessel. Wind speeds at this point hit 150 miles per hour all the way through September 10th. The cities across the keys, especially Key West, were for the most part prepared for this storm as it was detected about four days prior to impact. But the damage done was roughly over two million dollars Many houses were flattened but the people themselves for the most part were able to evacuate. Most of the casualties were done to those at sea as mentioned prior. 9.
Furthermore, the damage done by this hurricane to the keys was astronomical when taking into account the damages, death totals, and flooding caused. As the most damage was done to Florida’s Keys, this was not were its reign of terror stopped. It weakened momentarily dropping to category three when it entered The Gulf of Mexico on the 12th. But this depression was short-lived as it reached back up to category four status eclipsing 145 miles per hour for about 30 hours. By this time the entire gulf was empty of ships as everyone knew to steer clear. But keep in mind with nobody there to report the storms position as technology was nowhere near what it is now today. This is because there was nobody there to record its position. This is where the storms second reign of terror came into play. East Texas, and more specifically Corpus Christi let their guards down as they heard little to no further information on the storm. They were under the impression it found its way up Louisiana or somewhere else making the impact way less severe than initially believed. On the contrary, the tropical cyclone made landfall as a Category Three storm and eclipsed wind speed of 125 miles per hour. Even though East Texas was not hit as hard, and also had a geographic advantage over the keys considering they were not an island, the damage was much worse. This is because as mentioned before, their guard was down. Debris was over twenty feet high, oil covered the entire bay from spillage, and many of the city’s principal buildings were pulled into the Gulf from the force of rushing water. 11.
Peoples homes, factories, schools, and jobs just vanished into the water and bay to never be seen again. Just imagine watching your home washing away and there being nothing you can do about it. The reported death toll was 287, but many believed the actual figure could be well over 600 with so many people disappearing in the wreckage. The storm certainly caught the residents of this city off guard due to technological shortcomings of this time and the damage left was certainly catastrophic. 13.
As one can tell, the damage left from “The Florida Keys Hurricane” of 1919 was catastrophic. With over 745 people losing their life, it makes it the ninth deadliest hurricane of all time. To put it into perspective, Hurricane Katrina was the 6th deadliest hurricane of all time to put into perspective how these two storms were fairly close in severity. People at this time certainly fell victim to the lack of technology available. Those in the Keys lost entire towns, buildings, homes, and more despite being the utmost prepared to the most of their times ability. The 500 sea victims across the ten sunken ships stood no chance to the natural disaster that came their way. Then in East Texas it was arguably worse as they were prepared until the lack of reporting on the storm, due to no ships in the Gulf of Mexico, made their guard let down. This led to their ultimate demise as the Category Three storm at the time came full force to their homes washing away everything they loved while causing mass casualties. People at this time were left in awe being blindsided so abruptly as they largely believed they were in the clear. But with anything in life, there is always a silver lining. The city previously mentioned known as “Corpus Christi,” did see innovation as a result of this devastation. Around twenty years later a many by the name of “Gutzon Borglum,” who designed Mount Rushmore, came around with an idea of a seawall to protect this port city. Although there was resistance at first due to financial concerns, the city eventually built this wall to provide protection from storms such as “The Florida Keys Hurricane,” in 1940, a little over twenty years later. 15.
Although it took over two decades for it to eventually be put up, it is certainly better late than never. As this design helped protect this city from flooding during hurricane seasons for decades upon decades to come during the twentieth century. Even those in the Key West benefited from a preparation standpoint as they became way better prepared for natural disasters to come. Despite the 22 million dollars in damage done, along with over 700 casualties, and the ruining of lives, the aftermath of this hurricane was certainly not all negative considering the changes in technological improvement, as seen above, it brought. 17.
I mentioned earlier the aftermath this hurricane brought in terms of better preparing for natural disaster. It is quite evident the reform it brought, along with the amount of work that was needed to rebuild so many different communities. But it important to keep in mind where this natural disaster fits historically with the year 1919. As we all know, the year 1919 was certainly not one of our nations more “favorable” years to be quite nice. It probably goes down as one our nations worst years in history if we are being quite honest. Between race riots, radical issues, sport scandals, natural disasters, labor issues, and so much more there was a lot of negative things going on. Our nation just got out of fighting its most costly wars at this time, in World War One. It was financially exhausting to say the least and know a new race war on its home-front was about to take form. The “Florida Keys Hurricane” of 1919 was no different in terms of the piling amount of negative events taking place from coast to coast in The United States at this time. All in all, this devastating natural disaster just adds on to the narrative of “1919 being the worst year in our nation’s history” quite nicely.
Internet Resources:
18.
Bibliography:
1. NASA. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/.
2. NASA, Ibid.
3. NASA, Ibid.
4. “1919- Florida Keys Hurricane.” Hurricanes. Accessed April 15, 2019.
http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/1910s/FloridaKeys/.
5. “Florida Keys Travel Guide: Everything You Need To Know.” Pinterest. Accessed April 15, 2019.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/249105423115471469/.
6. “The Florida Hurricane.” The Scientific Monthly 23, no. 5 (1926): 480. http://www.jstor.org/stable/7431.
7.CBS News. “Deadliest Hurricanes in U.S. History.” CBS News. August 29, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019.
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/deadliest-hurricanes-worst-in-the-us-list/19/.
8. CBS News. “Deadliest Hurricanes in U.S. History.” CBS News. August 29, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019.
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/deadliest-hurricanes-worst-in-the-us-list/19/.
9. Devastating Disasters. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://devastatingdisasters.com/the-florida-keys-hurricane-1919/.
10. “1919 Florida Keys Hurricane.” Newspapers.com. Accessed April 15, 2019.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1684843/1919_florida_keys_hurricane/.
11. Devastating Disasters, Ibid.
12. “Become a TSHA Member and Join Our Mission to Promote the Unique and Rich History of Texas.” Significant Weather, 1900–
1919 | Texas Almanac. Accessed April 15, 2019. https://texasalmanac.com/topics/environment/significant-weather-1900–1919.
13. O’Rear, Mary Jo. “Silver-Lined Storm: The Impact of the 1919 Hurricane on the Port of Corpus Christi.” The Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 108, no. 3 (2005): 312-43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30242236.
14. “1919 Florida Keys Hurricane.” Newspapers.com. Accessed April 15, 2019.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1684843/1919_florida_keys_hurricane/.
15. Thurston, Anne. “Corpus Christi.” The Furrow 56, no. 7/8 (2005): 394-97. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27665182.
16. Laskow, Sarah. “How a Devastating 1919 Hurricane Inspired Corpus Christi to Build a Seawall.” Atlas Obscura. August 25, 2017.
Accessed April 15, 2019. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/corpus-christi-seawall-1919-hurricane.
17. Devastating Disasters, Ibid.
18. Jorgensen, Ronald. “Corpus Christis 1919 Storm.” YouTube. March 12, 2012. Accessed May 07, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ekiba-KL8.
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