Fifteen Hurricanes That Changed the Carolinas

Powerful Storms, Climate Change, and What We Do Next

Jay Barnes

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781469667461
• Print ISBN:
  9781469666303
• Subtopic: North American History

This informative and engaging book tells the true stories of the hurricanes that had the greatest impact on North Carolina and South Carolina, from the eighteenth century to the present day. Hurricane historian Jay Barnes offers an illuminating and compelling account of the Carolinas’ most recent storm disasters, Matthew and Florence, as well as thirteen other memorable hurricanes in the Tar Heel and Palmetto States, including Hazel, Hugo, Fran, and Floyd. In Barnes’s hands, the examination of these powerful tropical cyclones leads to a broader view of the history of the Carolinas, revealing not only their terrifying and deadly consequences but also the perseverance of the region’s people in the face of such extraordinary disasters.

In recounting the rich hurricane history of the Carolinas, from the mountains to the coast, Barnes urges readers to consider the storms to come and profiles how a warming planet and rising seas will affect future Carolina hurricanes.

INDEX

Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

Abbeville (steamboat), 54

Adams, John, 20

Adkins, Calvin, 281

Africa (English slave ship), 12–13

African American communities, and Great Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893, 52–53, 58–59, 60

African Americans: disenfranchisement of, 60; Gullah people, 52, 59, 61. See also slaves and slavery

agricultural losses: of Chesapeake and Potomac Hurricane of 1933, 90; of Great Antigua-Charleston Hurricane of 1804, 25, 28, 38, 39; of Great Asheville Flood of 1916, 85; of Great Carolina Hurricane of 1752, 10, 13, 17; of Great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899, 68, 70, 71; of Great Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893, 52, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65; of Hurricane Bertha, 193; of Hurricane Donna, 149; of Hurricane Florence, 322; of Hurricane Floyd, 248, 251–52, 254; of Hurricane Fran, 193, 212; of Hurricane Hugo, 164; of Hurricane Matthew, 278; of hurricane of July 5, 1916, 80; of hurricane of July 14, 1916, 82

Ainsworth, James, 304

Albemarle Sound, N.C.: and Great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899, 72, 75; and Hurricane Donna, 148, 151; and Hurricane Fran, 178; and Hurricane Hazel, 127; and Hurricane Irene, 35; and Hurricane of September 6, 1846, 32; and Outer Banks Hurricane of 1933, 90, 105

Alsup, Tony, 210–11

Altapass, N.C., 83

American Red Cross: and Clara Barton, 48–50, 60–62, 64; and Great Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893, 60–62, 61, 64; and Hurricane Florence, 293, 321; and Hurricane Floyd, 229, 237, 242; and Hurricane Fran, 193, 202; and Hurricane Gracie, 138; and Hurricane Hazel, 113, 122, 125; and Hurricane Hugo, 167, 169; and Outer Banks Hurricane of 1933, 91, 94–95, 104

Amspacher, Karen, 347–48

Anna S. Conants (schooner), 54

Annie Kranz (schooner), 54

Aon Benfield, 282

Asheville, N.C., railway traffic of, 83–84. See also Great Asheville Flood of 1916

Astoria (British brig), 53

Atlantic Beach...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• One. The Great Carolina Hurricane of 1752
• Two. The Great Antigua-Charleston Hurricane of 1804
• Three. The Beaufort Hurricane of 1879
• Four. The Great Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893
• Five. The Great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899
• Six. The Great Asheville Flood of 1916
• Seven. The Outer Banks Hurricane of 1933
• Eight. Hurricane Hazel, October 1954
• Nine. Hurricane Gracie, September 1959
• Ten. Hurricane Donna, September 1960
• Eleven. Hurricane Hugo, September 1989
• Twelve. Hurricane Fran, September 1996
• Thirteen. Hurricane Floyd, September 1999
• Fourteen. Hurricane Matthew, October 2016
• Fifteen. Hurricane Florence, September 2018
• Sixteen. Future Storms
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Sources
• Index