19. The Great Hurricane of 1780
The hurricane of October, 1780 altered history. As it swept across the Caribbean it caused severe damage to the British fleet spread across the region, with the loss of many warships and troop transports there to defend British interests from French raids, and to support operations of the British army in North America. Both the size of the storm and the number of casualties it caused are estimates, with the number being cited as high a 24,000 in the Leeward Islands alone. It is believed from the journals and diaries left behind that the actual death toll in the Caribbean was likely around 20,000, and though the eye of the storm did not strike the continental United States, its winds and rain moved slowly up the east coast.
At least ten British warships were lost in the storm, severely weakening the empire’s strength in the West Indies. A British man of war was driven inland on the island of Saint Lucia, where the storm surge deposited it on top of a military hospital, destroying both with heavy loss of life. Military operations by Washington’s army in New York were canceled due to the driving rain and high winds felt in the Hudson Valley. The French suffered losses as well, the heavy frigate Junon was lost in the Caribbean with its crew, and approximately 9,000 troops and civilians in French settlements were swept away by storm surges and floods. The Great Hurricane of 1780 cost more, in terms of loss of human life, than entire decade’s worth of storms which occurred later.