The 1878 Haiti–Florida hurricane, also known as the Kissimmee hurricane, was a large, slow-moving Atlantic hurricane that was the most severe to impact the island of Trinidad since 1838. It also caused significant damage to portions of the Greater Antilles, chiefly Hispaniola, and eastern North America, primarily via powerful winds, storm surge, and rainfall-induced flooding. The fifth tropical storm and fourth hurricane of the annual season, it developed over the western tropical Atlantic north of South America on September 1; well formed at the time, it likely originated farther east but went undetected. Quickly strengthening into a hurricane, it impacted the Windward Islands, extensively damaging watercraft, infrastructure, and agriculture, but causing few fatalities. Three days later it struck Hispaniola with winds up to 90 mph (150 km/h), flattening numerous buildings, devastating crops, and claiming at least 16 lives, though estimates ranged upward of several hundred due to the scale of destruction, which dispersed entire populations. A day later the cyclone hit Cuba as a minimal hurricane, spreading relentless rainfall, along with crop damage, over portions of the island and the Lucayan Archipelago as it drifted near the country's northern coast for a few days.
On September 7 it suddenly veered northward, impacting the Florida Keys and southern Florida peninsula as a high-end tropical storm. Over the next three days it slid west-northwest, wandering back offshore over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. There it rapidly restrengthened, peaking with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h), and backtracked, moving inland over the Nature Coast on September 10. For several days the storm—its effects heightened by its size, slow motion, and a surrounding high-pressure area—delivered copious rain, gusty winds, and high tides to Florida, as it moved erratically over or near much of that state. The rains soaked wide swaths of the south-central peninsula, swamping riparian zones in the region, above all the areas northwest of Lake Okeechobee, while stiff winds downed trees, telecommunications, and fragile structures over a broad cross-section of the state, resulting in a fatality. The storm alternately shed and regained hurricane intensity within a few days of crossing Florida, arcing more to the north before making a final landfall in South Carolina—with Saffir–Simpson winds ranking it a strong Category 1 storm—on September 12. It then sped inland, its tropical features unraveling over West Virginia a day later before dissipation over Canada.
The storm buffeted ships offshore Cuba, the Bahamas, and the United States, causing wrecks from the Florida to the Carolinas. Staple and other crops suffered damage from wind and rain, mainly in low-lying areas near water on the coastal plain. Most casualties in the Southeast north of Florida were from drownings or hurricane-spawned tornadoes, some retroactively rated F2 or stronger by meteorologists, that claimed four lives from the Carolinas to Virginia. Historic floods attended the storm's trek across the Appalachian Mountains and into Canada, with fast-rising rivers engulfing communities in several U.S. states and a few Canadian provinces. Railroads and other vital infrastructure, such as bridges, in both nations bore the brunt of the storm, owing to local hydrological milestones set by the storm, such as river rises and rainfall amounts unseen in years. At least 11 of the 32 dead in the U.S. were railroad employees whose trains collapsed due to mudslides or cave-ins from floodwaters. All 10 deaths in Canada were flood-related, as the storm was responsible for major inundations in Greater Toronto and adjourning areas. Cumulatively, the cyclone was blamed for at least 60 deaths and over $900,000 in losses.
Meteorological history
The storm—regarded as the most noteworthy Atlantic system that month due to its climatologically unusual beginning, route, and longevity—likely crystallized between 6° and 10°N, just south of Portuguese Cape Verde, but first appeared in the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) about 500 mi (805 km) east-southeast of Port of Spain, Trinidad, at 00:00 UTC on September 1, at which time it bore winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), equal to a moderate tropical storm, a day before the first observations were made confirming its existence. Heading west-northwest, it reached hurricane status—Category 1 on the modern Saffir–Simpson scale—a day later. Early on September 2, its eye passed between Tobago and Trinidad with sustained winds of 80–90 mph (130–150 km/h). As it did so, it gradually veered northwestward, a heading it maintained over the eastern Caribbean for two days. Retaining force, the storm made two consecutive landfalls on Hispaniola early on September 4: over present-day Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic, then near Belle-Anse, Haiti, at a slightly lower intensity. A study by Michael Chenoweth in 2014, however, concluded that the storm never hit the Dominican Republic and grazed the southwestern edge of the Tiburon Peninsula instead, but its findings have yet to be incorporated into HURDAT.
The hurricane lost some potency over western Haiti, reemerging over water near Gressier. Bypassing Port-au-Prince Bay, it briefly degenerated into a tropical storm over Gonâve Island. It quickly recovered, however, over the Windward Passage, and reached a secondary peak of 80 mph (130 km/h) before striking eastern Cuba on September 5. Interaction with land failed to weaken the storm appreciably; for two days the storm, now heading west-northwestward, slowed and meandered along coastal northern Cuba, maintaining winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). Reports from Cuban cities gathered by Benito Vines traced the path of the storm, with Santa Clara enduring the transit of the vortex. Early on September 7 the storm, traversing the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, turned sharply northward, toward the Straits of Florida. At 21:00 UTC that day it struck Duck Key in the Florida Keys with winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), and five hours later hit the South Florida mainland near Flamingo. At the time a robust ridge built to its north, inducing a slow drift for a few days.
Spending a day over land, the storm abruptly shifted course, heading west-northwestward once more, and entered the eastern Gulf of Mexico near Sarasota early on September 9. Rapidly intensifying over water, the storm attained winds of 105 mph (165 km/h)—the highest in its lifespan—and suddenly reversed course, moving inland near present-day Pine Island, north of Bayport, at 11:00 UTC on September 10. Using a simulation to extrapolate the decay of a storm over land, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project determined its central pressure at landfall to be , based on a report of taken in the eye at St. Augustine, and used data from three weather stations to verify its track on September 9–10, but older HURDAT and Chenoweth's study kept it inland near or east of Punta Gorda. After passing inland north of Tampa Bay, its center tracked northeastward across North Florida to enter the western Atlantic Ocean on September 11. Having weakened to a strong tropical storm, the cyclone soon became a hurricane again while curving sharply north-northeastward, and attained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h). At 12:00 UTC the next day, it made its last landfall on an island in Saint Helena Sound, just west of present-day Edisto Beach, South Carolina, at the same intensity, and steadily lost strength as it accelerated inland, becoming extratropical over eastern West Virginia in the forenoon on September 13. Its remnants reached southernmost Ontario late that day, at which point they lost identity.
Precautions and impact Caribbean and Bahamas +Deaths and damage by region Region Totaldeaths Damage(USD) Source(s) 10 > Carolinas 2 2 5 ≥ ≥16 1 2 ≥ 11 ≥ 2 1 ≥ 5 Elsewhere (in U.S.) 3 Totals: + > Because of differing sources, totals may not match. As the storm passed near Trinidad, Port of Spain registered its lowest pressure to date, , along with an hour-long lull and a 90° wind shift. A "trustworthy authority" cited by The Port of Spain Gazette stated that no similar storm had hit there since 1810, while the Monthly Weather Review considered the storm's impacts to be the worst in 40 years. Residents rode out the hurricane in the ground floor of buildings, although few structures survived unscathed. High winds flung shutters, tiles, tree branches, and roofs as debris. In Port of Spain, the hurricane wrecked or sank the boats in the harbor, including the harbormaster's launch. The storm also washed ashore seven lighters and one schooner, strewing debris along of coast; it also tore cordage and sails off three larger boats. Part 2
Winds toppled large trees islandwide, which fell onto buildings and together with washouts halted traffic. The storm destroyed the island's largest coconut plantations, one of which belonged to chief justice Joseph Needham, with downed palms numbering in the tens of thousands. Rainfall of up to culminated in flash floods that annihilated bridges, causeways, wharves, and warehouses, during which several sites noted "earthquake shocks", according to a summary by the Monthly Weather Review. Two people drowned offshore. On neighboring Tobago the storm leveled homes "all over the island", the San Fernando Gazette reported. Elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles the storm's edges yielded heavy rains, rough seas, and squally weather, with Fort-de-France, Martinique, measuring of rainfall on September 1–2. The forces of the storm destroyed jetties, flooded roads, and impacted fruit crops.
On Hispaniola the storm caused unspecified damage at Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. In Haiti the storm ravaged plantations, some of which it swept bare, destroying three-fourths of the coffee crop and crippling cocoa yields. Wind and sea severely damaged numerous communities, including Jacmel, where the storm mostly destroyed waterfront construction. High seas virtually erased Jérémie, Saint-Louis-du-Sud, and parts of Grand'Anse, tearing apart all 55 beachfront homes at Bainet. Rivers such as the Jacmel overflowed, effacing gardens and homes; severe flooding afflicted Port-Salut, Torbeck, and Côteaux.
Powerful winds blew down hundreds of homes and other structures, and wholly or partly unroofed those that survived, resulting in numerous casualties, especially in Les Cayes Arrondissement. There the storm wrecked 434 homes, 120 of them at Les Cayes alone, along with several of the largest rum distilleries (French: guildives), a schoolhouse, an arsenal, a prison, a military headquarters, a courthouse, a bridge, and a church. At Aquin the storm rendered irreparable 131 houses—all but 40 of the total—and left the town itself partly underwater. At Cavaillon, where only a few homes survived, the storm killed 11 children and women in a collapsed church; elsewhere first responders retrieved five deceased bodies. At Corail the storm shattered 40 homes and the American schooner Warden, but rescuers salvaged the latter's crew. Across Haiti the storm mangled more ships and warehouses, ruining goods such as over of wool. Debris and trees clogged streets, hindering transportation. The storm depopulated entire settlements, hampering efforts to monitor the dead and injured; officials assessed an unknown but large number of victims, with "hundreds" of deaths rumored.