By Angelo Russello and Travis Goffredo.©
Great Hurricane of 1780 Report
The Great Hurricane of 1780 was a hurricane that happened in Central America. Its alternate name is HurricaneSanCalixto which was named after a pope and is a Colombian municipality located in the department of North Santander. It was the deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic on record. It took place through October 10th - October 16th in 1780. The winds were 120MPH and killed thousands of people; it also caused many deaths and destructions of British and French boats coming to America during the revolution which made a big difference in it as well.
The main area of the hurricane was Barbados which was where it persisted for the beginning on October 10 - 11. This was by far the worst part as it ripped through mainly the whole island and stripped trees off their bark before completely destroying them and knocking them to the ground. Along with the trees this hurricane destroyed every house on the island with the winds blowing now at 320KPH. Also, it destroyed all the forts on the island, moved cannons over 1,000 feet away from where they were standing and killed over 4,500 people, only on Barbados.
The next place this destruction took place was in many other small islands along Central America including Saint Vincent, Where it destroyed 545 - 600 houses in Kingstown, Wrecked 19 Dutch ships in Garcia, In Saint Luca it destroyed the fleet of British Admiral Rodney in Port Castries with one of the biggest ships being flown onto one of the hospitals there obliterating it. Also on the port only 2 houses were left standing from this monster of a hurricane. Over all, 6,000 people died from it including 40 French ships heading for war where the hurricane demolished them all causing 4,000 soldiers being drowned.
After affecting the Central American area, the hurricane headed of to Purteo Rico in south Kabo Rabo and Lajas and also hit areas of the Dominican Republic. It grounded 50 ships in the Bermuda even after traveling through Central America, it seemed to not have lost its power.
Overall, it killed over 27,500 people throughout Barbados, the whole Central America, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. The people of this hurricane had generally no warning besides the clouds above them. Due to lack of technology during this time period and little known about hurricanes the people of these areas did not know causing in major destruction. Below in the picture there is the area of where the hurricane hit Central America the most causing the worst damage.
In the red it shows where most of the devistating damage was. Barbados and several other islands next to it were the worst areas affected.
The Hurricane, a deadly storm
A hurricane is the most powerful storm known to man and is aslo somtimes reffered to as cyclones or tropical storms. There three parts in a hurricane, the rain bands on the outside, the eye wall and the eye. First in the rain bands you would experience heavy rains and 100 mph winds but survivable. The next stage that you step in is the strongest out of the three. It is the eye wall and heavy rains and somtimes hail with winds up to 300 km/h. If you are caught in this area you should definetly make your way to the center or stay in the safe rain bands. Then in the eye it is calm since the up and down drafts are cuasing a balance of low and high pressure with warm and quiet winds. The most common areas for these storms are at 5-20 degrees North and South. To start a hurricane you need a warm water source to keep it going and two thunderstorm air masses. when they meet the coriolis effect then cuases it to spin in a spiral. Then after it forms there is no stopping it until it dies far into dry land.
Steps to prepare for and preform during a hurricane
To prepare for a hurricane you should emmediatly block and shut all windows since unwanted debri can fly through. Then get hold on to a radio for weather updates and stay in a basement or cellar and stay away from all doors. You could also stay in a safe house or in a depatment store building. Then you should carry aid kits in case of injuries and hide under a large object. Once you the hurricane is comming over your head you must stay still and hold onto somthing while curled in a ball. This should help but if you are living in a shore hoouse put a high wall up to keep the large waves from swallowing your house. Then if you get cought outside find the eye and stay around it. If you can remain inside the eye until it dies out you do have a good chance to survive.
Bibliography
Sources of information/pictures
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Comments (4)
Weijia said
at 10:40 pm on Apr 24, 2008
nice job!!!impressive!
Anonymous said
at 2:59 pm on Apr 27, 2008
haha. good job angelo!
Anonymous said
at 3:46 pm on Apr 27, 2008
angelo!
Anonymous said
at 5:27 pm on Apr 29, 2008
nice job it is better then ours. we did the same hurricane. check out our podcast.
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