The 1916 Gulf Coast hurricane was a destructive tropical cyclone that struck the central Gulf Coast of the United States in early July 1916. It generated the highest storm surge on record in Mobile, Alabama, wrought widespread havoc on shipping, and dropped torrential rainfall exceeding . The second tropical cyclone, first hurricane, and first major hurricane – Category 3 or stronger on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale – of the highly active 1916 Atlantic hurricane season, the system originated in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on June 28 and moved generally toward the north-northwest. Crossing the Yucatán Channel on July 3 as a strengthening hurricane and brushing Cuba with gusty winds, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) prior to making landfall near Pascagoula, Mississippi, at 20:00 UTC on July 5. Over land, the hurricane rapidly weakened to a tropical storm, but then retained much of its remaining strength as it meandered across interior Mississippi and Alabama for several days, its northward progress impeded by a sprawling high-pressure area to the north. The system weakened into a tropical depression on July 9 and dissipated late the next day over southern Tennessee.
The United States Weather Bureau first took notice of the developing storm on July 2, issuing tropical cyclone watches and warnings for much of the central Gulf Coast on July 4 and 5. Upon moving ashore, the cyclone produced sustained Category 3 winds over coastal Mississippi and Alabama, with the worst damage mainly confined to east of the storm's center. In Mobile, an storm surge destroyed wharves and severely flooded the business district, while high winds unroofed or otherwise damaged many buildings. Boats of all sizes in Mobile Bay were sunk or blown ashore, and despite efforts to prepare warehouses for the tidal flooding, $500,000 in merchandise was lost. Farther east, Pensacola, Florida, endured several days of gale-force winds after the initial passage of the storm's core; though wind damage to homes, businesses, and trees was extensive, the worst damage resulted from storm tides along the immediate coast. Throughout the region, the hurricane severed telephone and telegraph communications. Numerous ships were lost in the Gulf of Mexico, some with their entire crews.
As the storm slowly proceeded inland, days of downpours caused rivers to rise precipitously from Mississippi to Georgia, overflowing their banks for several miles in each direction; the Chattahoochee River exceeded flood stage by . In Alabama alone, of farmland was submerged, leading to millions of dollars in crop damage. Railroads were flooded, washed out, or blocked by debris, and many sawmills and other industrial facilities were disrupted. In addition, the hurricane's outer bands spawned multiple tornadoes that each caused severe but localized damage to residential areas. Steady rainfall in western North Carolina primed the French Broad River watershed for a catastrophic flooding event when another hurricane from the Atlantic coast moved over the same area just days later. The resulting disaster, the worst in Asheville, North Carolina's history, killed 80 people. Including property damage, shipping losses, and crop failures, the hurricane cost the Gulf Coast about $12.5 million, and at least 34 people died in the region.
Meteorological history
The second tropical cyclone of the 1916 season formed as a tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean Sea around 12:00 UTC on June 28. The depression drifted northwestward, and on June 30 it passed just east of Cabo Gracias a Dios. The system swept across the Swan Islands beginning on the morning of July 1, punctuating two days of unsettled weather there. Operationally, this was the first confirmation of the storm's existence. Around 00:00 UTC on July 2, the depression intensified into a tropical storm while centered just west of the Swan Islands. On the afternoon of July 3, USCGC Itasca encountered easterly gale-force winds while located south of Cape San Antonio, Cuba; late that night, USS Monterey also endured gales generally from the east while situated roughly northwest of the cape. As a result, it was determined that the system, after intensifying into a hurricane at 18:00 UTC on July 3, passed west of the ships through the Yucatán Channel and into the Gulf of Mexico. No further radio reports were received from ships near the hurricane, apparently because of effective shipping advisories. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane began to strengthen more quickly and accelerated toward the north-northwest.
As the storm approached the central Gulf Coast of the United States, it possessed maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h), making it a Category 3 major hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale. This is officially listed as its peak intensity, but because observations of the storm over the open Gulf of Mexico were sparse, it may have previously been stronger. At 20:00 UTC on July 5, the hurricane made landfall near Pascagoula, Mississippi, while at its strongest known intensity. At the time, this represented the earliest recorded U.S. major hurricane landfall in any season.Barnes (2013), p. 58 While the eye passed overhead, Pascagoula experienced a 20-minute lull in the storm's force. At landfall, the radius of maximum wind was likely and minimum central barometric pressure was estimated at , the latter of which was used to derive the storm's peak winds.
Moving inland, the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm by the morning of July 6, and it rapidly slowed as its northward progress was suppressed by a large high-pressure area over the Great Lakes. For several days the storm meandered across Mississippi and Alabama, and it continued to produce tropical storm-force winds through July 8. It finally deteriorated into a tropical depression around 00:00 UTC on July 9, while centered over central Alabama. The depression persisted for nearly two more days before losing its characteristics as a tropical cyclone over southern Tennessee, late on July 10. By the next morning, the disturbance had become indistinct. Recent reanalysis efforts have produced multiple changes to the hurricane's track in the Atlantic hurricane database, including an earlier formation and a slower initial intensification rate.
Preparations Notice of the burgeoning hurricane was first telegraphed to United States Weather Bureau offices on July 2, and advisories were disseminated to the public over the following days. Late on July 4, the Weather Bureau hoisted storm warnings along the coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and the stretch between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, was upgraded to a hurricane warning early the next day. In Mobile, the advance notice of the storm was credited with saving lives and $100,000 in wares. Railroads along the Gulf Coast suspended operations as the storm approached, and many small craft sought shelter in ports. In New Orleans, women and children working in factories and department stores were sent home early on July 5 to avoid being caught in the worst conditions.
Impact
As the storm passed west of Cuba, its effects extended as far east as Havana, where winds reached . Across the Florida Straits, Key West, Florida, recorded winds.
The strongest sustained winds measured in association with the storm were in Mobile, Alabama, corresponding to a one-minute average of adjusted for modern recording techniques. Although not directly recorded, sustained winds of Category 3 intensity probably affected coastal Mississippi and Alabama, with Category 2 winds affecting Florida. Throughout the affected region, telephone and telegraph infrastructure was blown down, crippling communications. The storm continued to drop flooding rains as it drifted around the Deep South for five days, resulting in significant damage to agricultural sectors of southeastern Mississippi, southern to central Alabama, and southwestern Georgia. As waterways were at seasonably low levels prior to the tropical cyclone, the prolonged downpours caused some rivers to rise by more than . Vast fields of cotton and corn were submerged, and in areas where the cotton crop survived intact, the abundant moisture was expected to result in an outbreak of harmful boll weevils. Numerous lumber companies suffered damage or interruptions to business resulting from the storm.
Along the Gulf Coast of the United States, the hurricane wrought more than $1.5 million in losses to shipping, including approximately $800,000 to vessels based in Pensacola, Florida, and $750,000 in Mobile. Numerous ships fell victim to the hurricane, some being lost with all crew members and passengers. Several ships went down off Ship Island, including the three-masted schooner Mary G. Dantzler, which sank with her crew of around 12. The ship, owned by a Gulfport, Mississippi, lumber company, was loaded with phosphate rock when the hurricane struck. The Bay St. Louis-based Champion, crewed by four, the Norwegian schooner Ancenis, worth $150,000, and an unidentified ship were also lost near Ship Island; only the crew of the Ancenis was rescued. The four-masted barquentine John W. Myers was blown aground on Ship Island and severely damaged.
"Probably a score" of small vessels were wrecked or heavily damaged, including the schooner Emma Harvey, which dragged anchor across the Chandeleur Islands and drifted eastward at the height of the storm. She was found floating upside-down off Pensacola on August 12, with no trace of her captain and five crewmen. After being towed into port and salvaged, the schooner survived for decades more until it was likely destroyed during Hurricane Frederic in 1979. The Beulah D. was dismasted and heavily damaged, but her crew survived, and the vessel was towed into port along with the wrecked Lagoda on July 14. Another small schooner, the Cambria, was blown out to sea from Deer Island and overturned, eventually being recovered near the Dog Keys. Her sole occupant was reportedly saved. The total death toll from the hurricane is unknown, with estimates ranging from as low as 34 to "into the hundreds".
Louisiana and Mississippi Burrwood, Louisiana, near the southern end of the Mississippi River Delta, endured gale-force winds and tides above normal. Winds and rain were both light in New Orleans.
The storm's winds damaged roughly half of the buildings in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where multiple industrial facilities were destroyed. Similarly extensive damage occurred just to the north in Moss Point. The storm's effects diminished to the west of Pascagoula, though significant property damage was still reported in Biloxi and Gulfport; one person was killed by the storm in the former city, and a handful of homes along that stretch of coast were destroyed. Property damage in Mississippi coastal towns was estimated at $130,000, and generally proved less severe than initially feared. By one estimation, potentially $3 million worth of standing timber in southeastern Mississippi was destroyed, though sources in Hattiesburg suggested the damage to timber locally was less severe than initially feared. In particular, it was reported that most of the trees toppled by the storm were weak and of little value. Regardless, many sawmills lost their stock or were otherwise damaged, with fires breaking out in several plants. Lumber processing companies in Laurel alone sustained around $200,000 in damage, and in that town, "not more than a dozen" out of 2,400 houses in Laurel escaped the storm unscathed. Greater than of rain fell over most of eastern Mississippi, peaking at in Leakesville. The entire length of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi overflowed to an average of from each bank.
Alabama