The 1916 Charleston hurricane was a tropical cyclone that impacted parts of the Southeastern United States in July 1916. Torrential rainfall associated with the storm as it moved inland led to the Great Flood of 1916: a prolific and destructive flood event affecting portions of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. This flood accounted for most of the damage and fatalities associated with the hurricane; most of these occurred in North Carolina. The hurricane was first detected as a tropical storm east of Miami, Florida on July 11. It took an unusually straightforward path towards the Carolinas and strengthened into a hurricane on July 12. The storm's peak sustained winds of —equivalent to a modern-day Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale—were attained on July 13. It made landfall near Charleston, South Carolina, the next morning, and weakened as it continued inland before losing its tropical cyclone status on July 15 over western North Carolina.
The swath of the hurricane's wind impacts in South Carolina was tightly concentrated around the hurricane's center due to its small size at landfall. The damage in Charleston was widespread but not severe, with most of the damage limited to the downed trees, minor roof and water damage to homes, and shipping damage. Crop damage was severe elsewhere along the coast and farther inland, with a 75–90 percent loss of crops reported north of Charleston along the Santee River. Although the hurricane's winds had tapered off by the time the storm reached North Carolina, the combination of orographic lift and saturated soils induced by an earlier hurricane led to copious rainfall and record-breaking river flooding that began in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains and continued downstream on both sides of the Appalachians. The French Broad River nearly doubled its previous stage record at Asheville, North Carolina, where the floods destroyed numerous buildings. Widespread damage was also wrought to crops, railways, and other infrastructure in the region by the flood-widened rivers. The flooding killed at least 80 people and caused approximately $21 million in damage.
Meteorological history
The 1916 Charleston hurricane was the fourth tropical cyclone of the 1916 Atlantic hurricane season. The Weather Bureau noted that it was the first July hurricane on record to originate from near the Bahamas and strike the South Atlantic U.S. coast. While most storms in this region tend to curve towards the northeast upon tracking into higher latitudes, the hurricane took a direct path into the Appalachian Mountains where it would ultimately dissipate. This unusual track was the result of a high pressure area over the Northeastern United States preventing the storm from progressing poleward. The first point entry for the system in HURDAT lists the cyclone as beginning as a tropical storm on July 11, centered approximately east of Miami, Florida. Although the Weather Bureau was cognizant of the tropical cyclone's nature, there were no observations of gale-force winds or low corresponding air pressures at the time. A vessel on July 12 near , approximately south of Charleston, South Carolina, provided the first direct report attesting to the tropical cyclone's presence with observed winds reaching gale-force for the first time. The storm's maximum sustained winds increased as it moved northwest; the storm had intensified into a hurricane by 18:00 UTC on July 12. Intensification continued the next day as the hurricane took a more northward trajectory towards the coast of South Carolina.
At 18:00 UTC on July 13, the hurricane attained its peak winds of , making it equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. These winds were estimated by a reanalysis of the storm conducted by the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) conducted in 2008, which used a peripheral observed pressure of 961 mbar (hPa; 28.38 inHg) from the ship Hector; the highest maritime winds observed contemporaneously reached only . The hurricane held its peak intensity for at least six hours before weakening slightly on its final approach to the South Carolina coast. The hurricane made landfall on Bulls Bay between Charleston, South Carolina, and McClellanville, South Carolina, at around 08:00 UTC on July 14 with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum central pressure of approximately ; this made the storm the equivalent of a high-end Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale at landfall. The 2008 reanalysis noted that the hurricane may have been stronger than their estimates at landfall. The radius of maximum winds spanned an estimated . At Charleston, the air pressure bottomed out at as the center of the hurricane moved nearby. After moving inland, the storm's winds diminished; they fell below hurricane-force by 18:00 UTC on July 14. The next day, the center of the weakening system crossed into North Carolina. The system was last noted in HURDAT as a tropical depression at 18:00 UTC on July 15 within southwestern North Carolina, after which its remnants diffused over the mountainous region.
Preparations, impact, and aftermath
Landfall area The Weather Bureau described the hurricane as having "unusual severity, though its path of destructiveness was comparatively narrow." There were few clear indications of the storm's approach up to the afternoon prior to the hurricane's landfall on July 13, with tides ahead of the storm only slightly exceeding predicted heights. Warnings were first issued by the bureau on July 12 upon notice of low air pressures from vessels off the Southeastern U.S. The coverage of warnings extended towards the north from their initial issuance as pressures continued to fall along the coast. At their final extents, a hurricane warning ultimately encompassed the U.S. Atlantic coast between Tybee Island, Georgia and Georgetown, South Carolina, while storm warnings were in effect for other coastal stretches between Jacksonville, Florida, and Fort Monroe, Virginia. Within these areas, ships were secured in their harbors and ships at sea were forced to divert to safety. A bulletin issued by the bureau described the storm as possessing "considerable intensity" near the South Carolina coast with peak winds of . Most people on Tybee Island evacuated to Savannah once strong winds and high waves began battering the exposed community; parts of the island became submerged as the storm passed nearby on the night of July 13, though the resulting damage was insignificant. Trains departing Tybee Island for the mainland traversed miles-long stretches of floodwaters roughly deep. Hundreds of people evacuated to Charleston, South Carolina, from nearby coastal resorts. The buoy tender Cypress evacuated 450 people from Sullivan's Island to Charleston. Ferry and trolley service connecting Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with nearby islands was stopped on July 13 after wire-bearing poles were brought down by the hurricane. Downed communications lines in McClellanville and Yonges Island in South Carolina prevented dissemination of the hurricane warnings to those locales; couriers dispatched in lieu of telecommunications were unable to deliver the warning information as a result of deteriorating conditions.
The hurricane buffeted Savannah, Georgia, with gale-force winds as it approached the coast. A pilot boat was driven ashore and heavily damaged at Tybee Island. A fisherman off the island was carried out to sea and later drowned after the ship sank. Another four people were rescued in Tybee Inlet after their boat sank. The rough surf kicked up by the storm disrupted communications with Sullivan's Island. The trestle of the railway connecting the island to the mainland sustained enough damage to halt service, but the hurricane's impacts on the island were otherwise light. The damage on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, was also minor. Fringe effects from the storm were also felt in parts of southeastern North Carolina and inland South Carolina as the storm made landfall. In Charlotte, North Carolina, winds from the storm topped out at . The high tide at Wilmington, North Carolina, rose to near record levels as a result of the nearby hurricane. Off Beaufort, North Carolina, the loss of two barges prompted a search-and-rescue operation.
The city of Charleston sustained damage from the storm and early reports indicated three deaths in the city and its environs, though the overall damage was described in media reports as not being particularly severe; the damage in the city and surrounding areas amounted to less than $100,000. Roadways in the Charleston Battery were first inundated by storm surge on the night of July 13 as waves began to overtop the surrounding seawalls. Tides ultimately rose to higher than normal, placing parts of the Battery under up to of water. Five fires were also sparked during the morning of the hurricane's landfall. Moderate gales continued in Charleston until the night of July 14–15. Damage to shipping was reported in the Charleston area; some small boats sank at their wharves, though most took minor damage. Barges in the Charleston Harbor were set adrift. Offshore, the collier Hector was dealt a heavy blow by the hurricane, prompting the transmission of distress signals; all of her crew were rescued by the Cypress and a tug. The highest observed wind in the city was sustained over a five-minute period. A peak gust of was also recorded on the night of July 13–14, and rainfall accumulation associated with the hurricane reached . However, gusts up to were estimated to have battered the area. Most homes in Charleston sustained minor roof and water damage. The high winds also brought down signs and broke plateglass windows. Electric power was shut down during the storm before being restored on the afternoon of July 14; one person was electrocuted by a live electric wire. Telegraph and telephone service in Charleston was knocked out of commission with the storm's winds bringing down communications wires connecting the city with surrounding areas, including the loss of service to some 1,500 telephones; communications were reestablished after a few hours. The principal markers of the hurricane's impacts in Charleston were the hundreds of trees downed by strong winds. The city's streetcars were brought to a halt by the obstructing debris.