23. A Tornado and a Waterspout
BY OLIVER HART (1752)
THIS province[61] is subject to
frequent and dreadful tempests of thunder and lightning, in May, June,
July and August.
For several days together, about the middle of July, 1752, the
mercury never fell below ninety-nine or one hundred degrees. Very
little rain fell between that time and September the 14th, when the wind
in the afternoon began to blow with great violence from the north-east
and continued increasing till the morning
of the 15th, when its force was irresistible. It stopped the course of the
Gulf stream, which poured in upon us like a torrent, filling the harbor
in a few minutes. Before eleven o'clock, A.M. all the vessels in the
harbor were on shore, except the "Hornet" man of war, which rode it
out by cutting away her masts.
All the wharfs and bridges were ruined, and every house and
store upon them beaten down, as were also many houses in the town,
with abundance of roofs, chimneys, &c. Almost all the tiled or
slated houses were uncovered, and great quantities of merchandise in
the stores of the Bay-street were damaged by their doors being burst
open. The town was likewise overflowed, the water having risen ten
feet above highwater mark at spring-tides.
Nothing was to be seen but ruins of houses, canoes, wrecks of
boats, masts, yards, barrels, staves, &c. floating and driving with
great violence through the streets, and round about the town. The
inhabitants found themselves in the midst of a tempestuous sea; the
violence of the wind continued; the tide (according to its common
course) was expected to flow, till after one o'clock; and many of the
people were up to their necks in water in their houses. Hence they
began now to despair of life.
Here we must record as signal an instance of the immediate
interposition of Divine Providence as ever appeared. They were soon
delivered from their apprehensions; for, about ten minutes after eleven
o'clock, the wind veered to east, southeast, south, and southwest very
quick. Then (though its violence continued, the sea still beating and
dashing with amazing impetuosity) the waters fell about five feet in the
space of ten minutes. Without this sudden and unexpected
fall, every house and inhabitant of this town must, in all probability,
have perished.
This shifting of the wind left the stream of the Gulf of Florida,
to follow its wonted course. Before three o'clock, P.M. the hurricane
was entirely over. Many people were drowned, and others much hurt
by the fall of houses. For about forty miles round Charlestown, there
was hardly a plantation that did not lose every out-house upon it, and
the roads, for years afterwards, were encumbered with trees blown and
broken down.
Whirlwinds are sometimes felt here; a most violent one of that
kind, commonly known under the title of Typhones, passed down
Ashley River on the 4th of May, I761; and fell upon the shipping in
Rebellion Road, with such fury as to threaten the destruction of a large
fleet, lying there, ready to sail for Europe. This terrible phenomenon
was seen by many of the inhabitants of Charlestown, coming down
Wappoo Creek. It resembled a large column of smoke and vapor,
whose motion, as well as that of the neighboring clouds, was very
irregular and tumultuous. The clouds appeared to be driving down
nearly in the same direction, and with great swiftness.
The quantity of vapor which composed this impetuous
column, and its prodigious velocity, gave it such a surprising
momentum, as to plow Ashley River to the bottom. That it laid the
channel bare, many people were eye-witnesses. When it was coming
down Ashley River, it made so great a noise as to be heard by most of
the people in town, who took it for a constant thunder. It increased in
size in its progress to the road.
As it passed the town, it was met by another gust,
which came down Cooper River. This was not of equal strength or
impetuosity with the other; but, upon their meeting together, the
tumultuous and whirling agitations of the air were seemingly much
greater, insomuch that the froth and vapor seemed to be thrown up to a
great height towards the middle. The clouds, that were now driving in
all directions to this place, appeared to be precipitated, and whirled
round at the same time with incredible velocity.
Immediately after, it fell on the shipping in the road, and was
scarce three minutes in its passage. Five vessels were sunk outright; his
Majesty's ship the Dolphin and many others lost their masts. This
tremendous column was seen, at noon, upwards of thirty miles south-west from Charlestown, where it arrived about twenty-five minutes
after two. It made an avenue in its course of a great width, tearing up
trees, houses, and every thing that opposed it; great quantities of leaves,
branches of trees, and even large limbs, were seen furiously driven
about, and agitated in the body of the column as it passed along.
The sky was overcast and cloudy all the forenoon; about one
o'clock it began to thunder, and continued more or less till three. By
four o'clock the wind was quite fallen, the sun shone out, and the sky
was clear and serene. We could scarce believe that such a scene had
been so recently exhibited, were not the sinking and dismantled vessels
so many striking and melancholy proofs of its reality.
