Sourcebooks, Inc. 2008
299 pages, $22.95
The forgotten hurricane
As another hurricane season draws to a close, Tony Williams has provided us with a look at one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the North American coast. Because it took place in 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolution, he calls it The Hurricane of Independence. Because it took place over 200 years ago, most people have never heard of it.
Battles had been fought at Lexington and Concord as well as Bunker Hill in the spring of 1775. Then in September a monster storm struck the North Carolina coast at the Outer Banks. This was the so-called Hurricane of Independence.
The hurricane wreaked havoc on the eastern seaboard from New Bern, North Carolina to Newfoundland. During the first week of September it struck virtually every important colonial capital including Williamsburg, Annapolis, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Unlike most hurricanes, however, the further north it went the worse the damage. By the time it had blown past Newfoundland in mid-September, well over 4,000 people had died.
Williams admits uncertainty as to what happened after the hurricane passed Boston. Did it blow itself out at sea, or move ashore 1,000 miles further north at Newfoundland? Because the damage to Newfoundland was so severe, the author speculates that the storm that pulverized Newfoundland may very well have been different from the one that struck further south.
The storm that eventually hit Newfoundland was devastating. Most of those who died were fishermen trapped off shore in their boats. On Newfoundland the storm surge reached heights of 20-30 feet, causing extensive property damage and ruin for the cod fishing industry.
In the 21st century, when hurricanes continue to cause considerable anxiety for east coast residents, author Tony Williams gives us a taste of what it was like over 200 years ago. People in the 18th century had little understanding of the forces of nature. Williams tells us “virtually everyone believed that the hand of Providence was responsible for the tempest.” A prominent Virginia planter, Landon Carter, believed that the hurricane was “a lesson of God’s omnipotence.”
“God’s omnipotence” caused the deaths of 200 people in North Carolina alone and dozens more as it moved up the coast through Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. As to its specifics, we knew about barometric pressure, thanks to Benjamin Franklin, but we didn’t know as much about wind speeds until Sir Francis Beaufort came along in 1805. At one point the author estimates winds of 70 mph, which doesn’t seem that extreme, though bear in mind 18th century ships and waterfront buildings were less solidly constructed than they are today.
At the end of the book the author discusses several differences with today’s hurricanes. In the 18th century there were no advanced warnings, which certainly would have reduced the death toll. Next, Williams was impressed with the self-reliance of the population. “People cleaned up, mourned their dead, and started over again.” Finally, despite the terrific loss of life and property, there were few recriminations. The blame game didn’t last for months or even years, as in the case of Katrina.
The book is well documented and the author provides us with an exceptional bibliography. Although the title of the book feels awkward, Williams does a good job of juxtaposing information about the early days of the revolution with the course of the hurricane. The result is that Hurricane of Revolution serves as both a primer for the beginnings of the Revolution and an interesting account of the deadly storm that ravaged the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Newfoundland in September 1775.