WEST INDIAN HURRICANES IN PUERTO RICO FROM
1515 TO 1899
Whoever has witnessed the awful magnificence
of what the primitive inhabitants of the West Indian
islands called où-ra-can, will never forget
the sense of his own utter nothingness and absolute
helplessness. With the wind rushing at the rate
of 65 or more miles an hour, amid the roar of waves
lashed into furious rolling mountains of water, the
incessant flash of lightning, the dreadful roll of
thunder, the fierce beating of rain, one sees giant
trees torn up by the roots and man’s proud constructions
of stone and iron broken and scattered like children’s
toys.
The tropical latitudes to the east
and north of the West Indian Archipelago are the birthplace
of these phenomena. According to Mr. Redfield
they cover simultaneously an extent of surface from
100 to 500 miles in diameter, acting with diminished
violence toward the circumference and with increased
energy toward the center of this space.
In the Weather Bureau’s bulletin
cited, there is a description of the most remarkable
and destructive among the 355 hurricanes that have
swept over the West Indies from 1492 to 1899.
Not a single island has escaped the tempest’s
ravages. I have endeavored in vain to make an
approximate computation of the human life and property
destroyed by these visitations of Providence.
Such a computation is impossible when we read of entire
towns destroyed not once but 6, 8, and 10 times; of
crops swept away by the tempest’s fury, and the
subsequent starvation of untold thousands; of whole
fleets of ships swallowed up by the sea with every
soul on board, and of hundreds of others cast on shore
like coco shards.
To give an idea of the appalling disasters
caused by these too oft recurring phenomena, the above-mentioned
bulletin gives Flammarion’s description of the
great hurricane of 1780.
“The most terrible cyclone of
modern times is probably that which occurred on October
10, 1780, which has been specially called the great
hurricane, and which seems to have embodied all the
horrible scenes that attend a phenomenon of this kind.
Starting from Barbados, where trees and houses were
all blown down, it engulfed an English fleet anchored
before St. Lucia, and then ravaged the whole of that
island, where 6,000 persons were buried beneath the
ruins. From thence it traveled to Martinique,
overtook a French transport fleet and sunk 40 ships
conveying 4,000 soldiers. The vessels disappeared.”
Such is the laconic language in which
the governor reported the disaster. Farther north,
Santo Domingo, St. Vincent, St. Eustatius, and Puerto
Rico were devastated, and most of the vessels that
were sailing in the track of the cyclone were lost
with all on board. Beyond Puerto Rico the tempest
turned northeast toward Bermuda, and though its violence
gradually decreased, it nevertheless sunk several
English vessels. This hurricane was quite as destructive
inland. Nine thousand persons perished in Martinique,
and 1,000 in St. Pierre, where not a single house
was left standing, for the sea rose to a height of
25 feet, and 150 houses that were built along the shore
were engulfed. At Port Royal the cathedral, 7
churches, and 1,400 houses were blown down; 1,600
sick and wounded were buried beneath the ruins of
the hospital. At St. Eustatius, 7 vessels were
dashed to pieces on the rocks, and of the 19 which
lifted their anchors and went out to sea, only 1 returned.
At St. Lucia the strongest buildings were torn up
from their foundations, a cannon was hurled a distance
of more than 30 yards, and men as well as animals
were lifted off their feet and carried several yards.
The sea rose so high that it destroyed the fort and
drove a vessel against the hospital with such force
as to stave in the walls of that building. Of
the 600 houses at Kingston, on the island of St. Vincent,
14 alone remained intact, and the French frigate Junon
was lost. Alarming consequences were feared from
the number of dead bodies which lay uninterred, and
the quantity of fish the sea threw up, but these alarms
soon subsided....”
“The aboriginal inhabitants,”
says Abbad, “foresaw these catastrophes two
or three days in advance. They were sure of their
approach when they perceived a hazy atmosphere, the
red aspect of the sun, a dull, rumbling, subterranean
sound, the stars shining through a kind of mist which
made them look larger, the nor’west horizon heavily
clouded, a strong-smelling emanation from the sea,
a heavy swell with calm weather, and sudden changes
of the wind from east to west.” The Spanish
settlers also learned to foretell the approach of a
hurricane by the sulphurous exhalations of the earth,
but especially by the incessant neighing of horses,
bellowing of cattle, and general restlessness of these
animals, who seem to acquire a presentiment of the
coming danger.
“The physical features of hurricanes
are well understood. The approach of a hurricane
is usually indicated by a long swell on the ocean,
propagated to great distances, and forewarning the
observer by two or three days. A faint rise in
the barometer occurs before the gradual fall, which
becomes very pronounced at the center. Fine wisps
of cirrus-clouds are first seen, which surround the
center to a distance of 200 miles; the air is calm
and sultry, but this is gradually supplanted by a
gentle breeze, and later the wind increases to a gale,
the clouds become matted, the sea rough, rain falls,
and the winds are gusty and dangerous as the vortex
comes on. Then comes the indescribable tempest,
dealing destruction, impressing the imagination with
the wild exhibition of the forces of nature, the flashes
of lightning, the torrents of rain, the cold air,
all the elements in an uproar, which indicate the
close approach of the center. In the midst of
this turmoil there is a sudden pause, the winds almost
cease, the sky clears, the waves, however, rage in
great turbulence. This is the eye of the storm,
the core of the vortex, and it is, perhaps, 20 miles
in diameter, or one-thirtieth of the whole hurricane.
The respite is brief, and is soon followed by the
abrupt renewal of the violent wind and rain, but now
coming from the opposite direction, and the storm
passes off with the several features following each
other in the reverse order.”
Puerto Rico has been devastated by
hurricanes more than 20 times since its occupation
by the Spaniards. But the records, beyond the
mere statement of the facts, are very incomplete.
Four stand out prominently as having committed terrible
ravages. These are the hurricanes of Santa Ana,
on July 26, 1825; Los Angeles, on August 2,1837; San
Narciso, on October 29, 1867, and San Ciriaco, on
August 8, 1899.
The first mention of the occurrence
of a hurricane in this island we find in a letter
from the crown officers to the king, dated August 8,
1515, wherein they explain: " ... In these
last smeltings there was little gold, because many
Indians died in consequence of sickness caused by
the tempest as well as from want of food ...”
The next we read of was October 8,
1526, and is thus described by licentiate Juan de
Vadillo:
“On the night of the 4th of
October last there broke over this island such a violent
storm of wind and rain, which the natives call ’où-ra-can’
that it destroyed the greater part of this city (San
Juan) with the church. In the country it caused
such damage by the overflow of rivers that many rich
men have been made poor.”
On September 8, 1530, Governor Francisco
Manuel de Lando reported to the king: “During
the last six weeks there have been three storms of
wind and rain in this island (July 26, August 23 and
31). They have destroyed all the plantations,
drowned many cattle, and caused much hunger and misery
in the land. In this city the half of the houses
were entirely destroyed, and of the other half the
least injured is without a roof. In the country
and in the mines nothing has remained standing.
Everybody is ruined and thinking of going away.”
1537. July and August.
The town officers wrote to the king in September:
“In the last two months we have had three storms
of wind and rain, the greatest that have been seen
in this island, and as the plantations are along the
banks of the rivers the floods have destroyed them
all. Many slaves and cattle have been drowned,
and this has caused much discouragement among the
settlers, who before were inclined to go away, and
are now more so.”
1575. September
21 (San Mateo), hurricane mentioned in the memoirs
of Father Torres Vargas.
1614. September
12, mentioned by the same chronicler in the following
words: “Fray Pedro de Solier came to his
bishopric in the year 1615, the same in which a great
tempest occurred, after more than forty years since
the one called of San Mateo. This one happened
on the 12th of September. It did so much damage
to the cathedral that it was necessary partly to cover
it with straw and write to his Majesty asking for
a donation to repair it. With his accustomed generosity
he gave 4,000 ducats.”
1678. Abbad states
that a certain Count or Duke Estren, an English commander,
with a fleet of 22 ships and a body of landing troops
appeared before San Juan and demanded its surrender,
but that, before the English had time to land, a violent
hurricane occurred which stranded every one of the
British ships on Bird Island. Most of the people
on board perished, and the few who saved their lives
were made prisoners of war.
1740. Precise date
unknown. Monsieur Moreau de Jonnes, in his work,
says that this hurricane destroyed a coco-palm grove
of 5 or 6 leagues in extent, which existed near Ponce.
Other writers confirm this.
1772, August 28. Friar
Inigo Abbad, who was in the island at the time, gives
the following description of this tempest: “About
a quarter to eleven of the night of the 28th of August
the storm began to be felt in the capital of the island.
A dull but continuous roll of thunder filled the celestial
hemisphere, the sound as of approaching torrents of
rain, the frightful sight of incessant lightning, and
a slow quaking of the earth accompanied the furious
wind. The tearing up of trees, the lifting of
roofs, smashing of windows, and leveling of everything
added terror-striking noises to the scene. The
tempest raged with the same fury in the capital till
after one o’clock in the morning. In other
parts of the island it began about the same hour,
but without any serious effect till later. In
Aguada, where I was at the time, nothing was felt
till half-past two in the morning. It blew violently
till a quarter to four, and the wind continued, growing
less strong, till noon. During this time the
wind came from all points of the compass, and the
storm visited every part of the island, causing more
damage in some places than others, according to their
degree of exposure.”
1780, June 13, and 1788, August
16. No details of these two hurricanes
are found in any of the Puerto Rican chronicles.
1804, September 4. A
great cyclone, a detailed description of which is
given in the work of Mr. Jonnes.
1818 and 1814 Both
hurricanes happened on the same date, that is, the
23d of July. Yauco and San German suffered most.
A description of the effects of these storms was given
in the Dario Economico of the 11th of August,
1814.
1819, September 21. (San
Mateo.) This cyclone is mentioned by Jonnes and by
Cordova, who says that it caused extraordinary damages
on the plantations.
1825, July 26. (Santa
Ana.) Cordova (vol. ii, of his Memoirs)
says of this hurricane: “It destroyed the
towns of Patillas, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Humacao, Gurabo,
and Caguas. In the north, east, and center of
the island it caused great damage. More than three
hundred people and a large number of cattle perished;
500 persons were badly wounded. The rivers rose
to an unheard of extent, and scarcely a house remained
standing. In the capital part of the San Antonio
bridge was blown down, and the city wall facing the
Marina on Tanca Creek was cracked. The royal
Fortaleza (the present Executive Mansion) suffered
much, also the house of Ponce. The lightning-conductors
of the powder-magazine were blown down.”
1837, August 2. (Los
Angeles.) This cyclone was general over the island
and caused exceedingly grave losses of life and property.
All the ships in the harbor of San Juan were lost.
1840, September 16. No details.
1851, August 18. No
details, except that this hurricane caused considerable
damage.
1867, October 29. (San Narciso.)
No details.
1871, August 23. (San
Felipe.) No details. 1899, August 8. (San
Ciriaco.) When this hurricane occurred there was a
meteorological station in operation in San Juan, and
we are therefore enabled to present the following
data from Mr. Geddings’s report: “The
rainfall was excessive, as much as 23 inches falling
at Adjuntas during the course of twenty-four hours.
This caused severe inundations of rivers, and the
deaths from drowning numbered 2,569 as compared with
800 killed by injuries received from the effects of
the wind. This number does not include the thousands
who have since died from starvation. The total
loss of property was 35,889,013 pesos.”
The United States Government and people
promptly came to the assistance of the starving population,
and something like 32,000,000 rations were distributed
by the army during the ten months succeeding the hurricane.
Such are the calamities that are suspended
over the heads of the inhabitants of the West Indian
Islands. From July to October, at any moment,
the sapphire skies may turn black with thunder-clouds;
the Eden-like landscapes turned into scenes of ruin
and desolation; the rippling ocean that lovingly laves
their shores becomes a roaring monster trying to swallow
them. The refreshing breezes that fan them become
a destructive blast. Yet, such is the fecundity
of nature in these regions that a year after a tempest
has swept over an island, if the debris be removed,
not a trace of its passage is visible the
fields are as green as ever, the earth, the trees,
and plants that were spared by the tempest double
their productive powers as if to indemnify the afflicted
inhabitants for the losses they suffered.