Storms of the Century

NASA satellite image of Hurricane Sandy - October 29, 2012

Hurricane Sandy has been the result of a hurricane colliding with a winter storm (and some extra-high tides caused by the full moon), creating a super-system initially dubbed a "Frankenstorm." Of even greater issue was Sandy's path: instead of approaching the U.S. East Coast from the south, like most hurricanes, Sandy made a sharp turn west to settle directly over highly-populated areas of New York and New Jersey. Property damage will run in the billions, millions are left without power -- and over forty people have lost their lives.

The damage and tragedy left in Hurricane Sandy's wake is not to be underestimated. But this "Frankenstorm" is hardly the first weather disaster in human history. Read on to find out more about these other "perfect storms:"

-- 1888: The Great Blizzard of '88

Downed power lines during the Great Blizzard of 1888

This "Great White Hurricane" lasted from March 11th-14th in 1888, dropping 40-50 inches of snow onto areas of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Winds gusting at over 45 mph created snow drifts in some places that were 50 feet high; Boston alone had nine inches of slush in the streets. With railways down, and power lines sagging from their telephone poles, people were confined inside their homes for a week. (Mark Twain, in New York City at the time, was trapped in his hotel for several days.) The damage was estimated at over $25 million -- quite a hefty sum for 1888!

One interesting fact?  The downed railways (which left 15,000 people stranded in NYC elevated trains) were a major force behind the creation of the New York subway system.

-- 1900: Galveston Hurricane ("The Great Storm")

19th Street, Galveston, Texas -- after the storm

September 8, 1900, saw the greatest natural disaster to ever hit the United States, killing at least 6,000 people in only a few hours. Galveston Island, located along the Gulf of Mexico, is a sandy island thirty miles long but only three miles wide (narrowing to as little as one and a half miles wide in some places). The city of Galveston, Texas was known in 1900 as "the jewel of Texas." (It was the center of cotton trade and was also the largest city in the state.) Despite the city's prominence and importance, however, a seawall had not been built to protect the town. When a Category 4 hurricane struck, the entire island was eventually submerged. After the waters receded, over 10,000 people had been left homeless.

(Read more about the Great Storm in Erik Larson's fantastic book, Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History.)

-- 1928: Okeechobee Hurricane

Storm wreckage in Okeechobee

The biggest tragedy of Okeechobee Hurricane?  Residents nearly avoided it. Although many Florida locals evacuated the area, when the hurricane failed to strike at the expected time, most returned to their homes -- thinking the storm had passed them by. The storm eventually hit the evening of September 16th, blasting the area with sustained 140 mph winds. The force broke one of Okeechobee Lake's dikes, and the ensuing weeks of flooding cost 2,500 lives.

-- 1987/1990: The Great Storm of 1987 & The Burns' Day Storm

Aftermath of the Great Storm of 1987

In October 1987, Southern England was slammed by a storm unprecedented in nearly 300 years. Not unlike Hurricane Sandy, the Great Storm was formed by multiple weather systems colliding -- in this case, a cold front from the Bay of Biscay merging with cold Arctic air against a blast of warm air from Africa. Winds blasted up to 115 mph, leaving 18 people dead, uprooting over 15 million trees, and costing billions in damages.

Only three years later, the Burns' Day Storm struck the UK on January 25. With similar wind speeds to the previous storm, and this storm affecting a larger area, 47 lives were lost.

-- 1991: The Perfect Storm ("The Halloween Nor'easter of 1991")

Bob Case, a retired NOAA meteorologist, gave the Halloween Nor'easter of 1991 its more well-known name in reference to the "perfect" set of weather conditions that gave rise to this early-winter storm. With most of the north-eastern United States cooling down with the approach of the colder months, the Atlantic waters remained warmer (ocean water has a higher heat capacity than landmasses). Cold continental air masses often meet warmer maritime air masses to create nor'easters -- but in the case of the Perfect Storm, a high pressure system collided with a low pressure system and the last traces of Hurricane Grace. While this "Halloween Storm" did batter the East Coast, the biggest dangers were for those out at sea, with 40-foot seas and 70-knot (80 mph) winds. U.S. Coast Guard ships like the Tamaroa were dispatched to rescue sailors and fishermen trapped out at sea.

(Read more in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea. Or check out the film!)

Honorable Mention: the Johnstown Flood ("Great Flood of 1889")

Read all about this famous Pennsylvania flood in our blog entry here.

-- Post by Ms. B

The Johnstown Flood of 1889

As long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the Johnstown Flood of 1889. It might have started when I discovered a book on my parent's bookshelf called The History of the Johnstown Flood by Willis Fletcher Johnson. I have no idea where the book came from, but it was published in 1889, and contains many photos, like the one above, and many very inaccurate stories. I was hooked! It wasn't until I was in my 30s, though, that I was actually able to make a trip to Johnstown.

There was so much I didn't know about the flood and why it happened, but after my trip to the Johnstown Flood Museum I knew a lot more. What I didn't learn at the museum I discovered in David McCullough's book, The Johnstown Flood. It offers a fascinating look at what lead to that momentous day, May 31, 1889.

In observance of the anniversary of the flood, here are some things I learned from my visit and David McCullough's book:

• Johnstown had been prone to flooding for many years, so when the heavy rains started people knew there could be flooding. But the residents of Johnstown were not prepared for the possibility of the dam at Conemaugh Lake, 14 miles away, bursting and sending a wave of water over 30 feet high to destroy their town. 
• The dam had been built between 1838 to 1853 as part of the canal system that became obsolete in 1854.
• The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club owned Conemaugh Lake and the dam at the time of the flood. The members of this club were the elite businessmen of their age. Most of them were from Pittsburgh. A few of its famous members were Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Andrew Carnegie.
• After the club purchased the lake and surrounding area, they made a few changes to the dam that were not improvements. They put screens across the spillways to keep the fish from escaping and they lowered the dam by several feet so that carriages could cross it. An earlier owner had removed the drainage pipes so that the lake could not be drained, and they were never reinstalled.
• The dam contained 20 million tons of water, which is about the same amount of water that goes over Niagara Falls in 36 minutes.
• A telegram was received in Johnstown sometime in the afternoon of May 31 that warned that the dam was likely to break. No one is sure when it was received and, unfortunately, not enough people actually saw it. The ones who did see it did not take it seriously, since there had been many false alarms over the years.
• The wave of water that hit Johnstown was 30 to 40 feet high and traveling at 40 miles per hour when it hit Johnstown, after hitting other small towns along the way. The dam broke sometime after 3 PM and hit Johnstown at 4:07 PM.
• More than 2,200 people died, including 99 entire families. More than 750 people were never identified and are buried in the Plot of the Unknown in Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown. There were bodies found as far away as Cincinnati. Bodies were still being discovered in 1911.
• The Johnstown Flood was the single largest one-day loss of civilian life in the United States before September 11, 2001.
• Clara Barton and the Red Cross arrived in the area on June 5, 1889 to help in the rescue and relief effort. This was the first major peacetime disaster relief effort for the organization.
• The flood was the biggest event of that era. Because of the coverage of newspapers, the world knew of the flood within days and donations started arriving from all over the world shortly after.  The first relief train from Pittsburgh arrived on June 1. 
• The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club was never held legally responsible for the flood.
• Johnstown would again experience devastating floods in 1936 and 1977.

If you are interested in history, especially Pennsylvania history, make sure you get to the Johnstown Flood Museum and the Johnstown Flood Memorial to see first hand what happened there on May 31, 1889.

More Information:

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (1968)

Johnstown: The Day the Dam Broke by Richard O'Connor (1957)

Through The Johnstown Flood: By A Survivor by Rev. David J. Beale (1890)

DVDs:

Johnstown Flood (2003)

PCN Tours: Johnstown Flood Museum (2008)

-- Post by Tracy