1919 Florida Keys hurricane

The Florida Keys Hurricane of 1919 was one of the strongest hurricanes, killing between 600 and 900 people on its way through Florida and Texas.

Storm History

The storm was first detected on September 2, 1919 in the vicinity of the Lesser Antilles. From there, he moved towards the west -northwest and then first met the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, where he achieved his greatest strength. The storm center grazed on September 9, the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm He sank before Havana, the Spanish passenger ship Valbanera, all 488 people on board were killed. He then crossed the Gulf of Mexico and met on 14 September as a Category 4 storm near Corpus Christi back on land. Although the equipment to accurately measure the wind speeds were not yet developed is known that the storm caused a four -meter-high storm surge near Corpus Christi. The air pressure was determined by a ship near Dry Tortugas with 927 mbar. This makes the hurricane not only one of the strongest in the United States but even the strongest, the Key West in the 20th century met.

Effects

Of the approximately 600 to 900 people who were killed by the storm, were about 500 on ten submerged ships. Alone on the Spanish passenger ship Valbanera came on 9 September 1919 all 488 people on board were killed.

Trivia

One of the evacuated from Corpus Christi was Bob Simpson, who later became head of the National Hurricane Center and the Saffir -Simpson Hurricane Scale, co-developed.

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