1831 Barbados–Louisiana hurricane explained

The Great Barbaos hurricane was an intense Category 4 hurricane that left cataclysmic damage across the Caribbean and Louisiana in 1831.

Meteorological history

The storm was first spotted when a captain from the boat Friends noticed a gale just near Grenada. The gale was more severe than any storm since the 1780 storm. The next morning, waves crashed in the nearby sea. A dark sky appeared the next morning, increasing.^[1]

Impact

During the storm, roofs of most buildings swayed against the walls, eventually settling in the ground. Trinidad was wholly destroyed, though ships in the Gulf of Paria escaped without damage. The storm also caused a boat to travel ashore.

The storm caused ships to sink and killed 1,500 people and caused $7 million USD in damages. According to the Bridgetown Press, Barbados was "laid waste", that no sign of plants was present.^[2] The death toll was controversial, with the apparent death toll being much higher.^[3]

See also

• Hurricane Georges (1998) – had a similar track

Further reading

• Levy . Claude . 1959 . Barbados: The Last Years of Slavery 1823–1833 . Journal of Negro History . 44 . 4 . 308–345 . 10.2307/2716613 . 2716613 . 148753833 .
• Encyclopedia: Longshore . David . David Longshore . Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones . Great Caribbean Hurricane of 1831 . 1998 . Facts on File . New York . 0-8160-3398-6 . 145 . registration .
• Book: Ludlum, David M. . Early American Hurricanes: 1492-1870 . 1963 . American Meteorological Society . Boston . 140–142 .
• Book: Edghill . J. Y. . About Barbados . 1890 . C. Tallis & Co . London . 31–38 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Account of the Fatal Hurricane, by which Barbados Suffered in August 1831: To which is Prefixed a Succinct Narrative of the Convulsions of the Elements, which at Several Times Have Visited and Injured the West Indian Islands . 1831 . Samuel Hyde . en.
2. Web site: Griffin-Elliott . Thia . 185th Anniversary of the Great Barbados hurricane . 2024-10-26 . NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory . en-US.
3. Web site: 2021-10-30 . Account of the Fatal Hurricane by which Barbados suffered in August 1831 . 2024-10-26 . History Collections . en-GB.