Thursday, March 17, 2011

TWIN HURRICANES OF AUGUST 1795

During the month of August 1795, two parallel track hurricanes passed through North Carolina. The first on August 2 & 3 ... the second 10 days later on August 12 & 13.

The first storm passed through North Carolina to the south of Norfolk bringing rain throughout the mid-Atlantic, disrupting mail service and damaging crops in Annapolis where trees were leveled and the tide was so high that "one could not get to the Market House without a Boat." 

"Vessels were driven ashore by the tempest." (From the Diary of William Faris: The Daily Life of an Annapolis Silversmith). Six unidentified ships were wrecked at the Ocracoke Inlet bar, among them the brig Esther with most of her cargo from Jamaica. 18 Spanish ships, sailing from Havana to Spain were driven ashore at Cape Hatteras ... an undisclosed number of them were lost.

A major hurricane, the second storm struck North Carolina and produced high winds as far inland as Winston-Salem and caused additional flooding. At Monticello, near Charlottesville, Thomas Jefferson noted that the loss of soil from the heavy rain thus far that month could be "modestly estimated at a year's rent" (Ludlum). A "powerful torrent of rain" deluged Petersburg; creeks were at their highest point of the past 70 years (North Carolina Journal). 

Winds were gusty at Farmville, where a "great fresh" was reported. Annapolis reported strong winds and rains on August 13 as well. Thomas Jefferson recorded this hurricane in his journal as his plantation at Monticello suffered heavy crop losses. The two storms caused the Appomattox river to crest more than 12 feet above flood stage. gust 1795,

No comments:

Post a Comment