San Ciriaco Hurricane, 1899
Rasmus Midgett sits on wreckage of the Priscilla. He single-handedly saved ten people from this ship during the hurricane.
NC Division of Archives and History; printed in The Great Hurricanes of North Carolina by John Hairr.
The San Ciriaco hurricane was the longest-lived Atlantic storm ever tracked. It lasted for 36 days, and its last gasps of wind reached all the way to coastal France. The storm earned its name by striking Puerto Rico on Saint Ciriaco’s Day and killing hundreds on the island. By the time it reached the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it may have intensified to a Category Five hurricane. Entire islands were flooded and fishing villages were destroyed. Some villages never recovered and relocated further inland. Out at sea, more than a dozen ships wrecked or sunk, and many sailors and fishermen lost their lives.
| Hurricane Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Storm Type: | Cat. 3 |
| Total Deaths: | 3,433 |
| Total Cost: | (no data) |
| NC Landfall: | Hatteras |
| NC Wind Speed: | 140 mph |
| NC Storm Surge: | (no data) |
| NC Rainfall: | (no data) |
| NC Pressure: | 28.55 in |
| San Ciriaco Timeline | |
|---|---|
| Aug 02 | Strengthens to a Tropical Storm in the mid-Atlantic |
| Aug 05 | Strengthens to a Category One hurricane |
| Aug 07 | Passes over the eastern Caribbean as a Category Four |
| Aug 08 | Hits Puerto Rico on Saint Ciriaco's Day; hundreds are killed |
| Aug 12 | Passes over the Bahamas as a Category Three |
| Aug 17 | |
| morning | Landfall near Hatteras as a Category Three |
| 9:00 pm | Cargo ship Priscilla wrecks |
| Aug 18 | |
| 4:00 am | Survivors of the Priscilla rescued |
| 8:00 am | Drifts back out to sea as a Category One |
| Aug 21 | Weakens to a Tropical Storm in the mid-North Atlantic |
| Sept 04 | Dissipates at sea near Europe |
| Sept 09 | Remnants of the storm felt in France |
All dollar amounts have been adjusted for inflation as of 2009.
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