The San Narciso Hurricane was an record-breaking,extremely deadly Atlantic hurricane that caused devastation to the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in 1867. Forming abnormally late for a Lesser Antilles hurricane,it went on to be the costliest and deadliest storm of the 1867 Atlantic hurricane season. It is the only hurricane in the official database to have struck Puerto Rico after September,[note 1] doing so over a month later than the next latest hurricane.[1] It is also the only hurricane known to have struck the territory from the northwest.[2]
On October 27, the storm developed northeast of the Lesser Antilles usually late into the season,[2] in which the mail steamer Principe Alfonso skillfully avoided the storm. This tropical storm continued westward before intensifying to a hurricane the next day. It then reached category 3 status on October 29, before striking Sombrero, Anguilla near or at peak intensity. After 8 am local, a barometric pressure of 28.65 inches of mercury (97.0kPa) accompanied by a half-hour calm occurred. The wind then shifted to a violent easterly until 11 am and then diminished through 1 pm. The hurricane reached its peak intensity of 125 miles per hour (201km/h) at 1200 UTC near the island.
The hurricane made landfall on Puerto Rico late during October 29; less than 3 days from November. Despite its small size, it ranks among the most intense hurricanes recorded on the island. It passed near the city of Fajardo between 5 pm and 6 pm local, and later passed near Caguas. People sensed tremors in the towns of Humacao, Luquillo, and Peñuelas. The storm affected every towns on the island of Puerto Rico.[4] It then struck the island of Hispaniola as a hurricane, to then dissipated over the high mountains on the 30th.
Impact
A 2003 photograph of the wreck of RMS Rhone. Only 25 of the approximately 145 people survived after it was wrecked by the storm.
On Tortola (British Virgin Islands), the storm reached its peak fury from noon to 2 pm and blew down one-third of the "miserable tenements". Deaths numbered 22 at Road Town, 2 on Peter Island, and 2 on Westland (now Soper's Hole). A letter from the Colonial Secretary of the Virgin Islands described Road Town as "two thirds ... in total ruin.", including the demolition of all places of worship, the schoolhouse, the hospital, and the jail. The hurricane destroyed nearly all crops on Tortola, while many residents were left without food or shelter,[6] with 60out of 123residences wrecked.[7] Only three homes remained standing on Peter Island.[6]
Approximately 100homes were destroyed on Virgin Gorda and 26others on Jost Van Dyke.[7][8] The hurricane drove ashore or otherwise wrecked 80 ships on Saint Thomas,[9] including the RMSRhone where a barometric pressure reading of 965mbar (28.5inHg) and winds of 74mph (119km/h) occurred.[4] One ship that capsized, the steamer Columbian, held approximately $1million to $2million worth of cargo, while six of its occupants were lost. On land, the hurricane rendered thousands of people homeless.[10] A correspondent to the St. Croix Avis described Charlotte Amalie as "frightful to look at", with "scarcely one building, whether old or new, left uncovered and many ... reduced to atoms."[7] Roughly 600people drowned throughout Saint Thomas.[4]
All but one of the Puerto Rico's 67towns were affected.[11] A study led by Emery R. Boose, published by Ecological Monographs in 2004 indicated the hurricane produced damage equivalent to an F1 tornado on the Fujita scale in the eastern and central parts of the island.[12][13] At San Juan, the storm wrecked the vessels Carmen, Josefina, and Rita and damaged many other ships, such as the Apolo, Fe, Joaquin, and Mary.[14]:43 Some towns experienced the destruction of or severe damage to every building and home, including at Aguas Buenas, Fajardo, and Humacao, while a correspondent to the New York Daily News described Maunabo as "a heap of ruins and the crops are all destroyed".[15] New reports estimated that throughout the island, "one thousand houses have been laid in ruin and three thousand have been severely damaged"., sometimes including all dwellings on an entire street, "leaving the roadway hidden by the ruins".[16] More than 3,600families became destitute. The hurricane ruined agriculture of the island, with reportedly a loss of all coffee and sugar crops,[15] causing a great economic crisis.[17] Overall, 211deaths and about 13million Spanish escudos in damage occurred on Puerto Rico.[4] The hurricane and various other factors contributed to the discontent on the island that erupted into the Grito de Lares of 1868.[17]
It almost destroyed the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Dominican Republic, where 200persons died on that day.[14]:44 Winds and heavy rains removed thatch roofs of dwellings on some streets, leaving thousands of people homeless. Many trees also fell, blocking roads to the interior of the country. The government of the Dominican Republic allocated $25,000 for people impacted by the storm, but a New York Evening Post correspondent described this amount of monetarily aid as "but a drop, and government and people are now poor alike".[18]
1932 San Ciprián hurricane – A near identical hurricane and runner-up in many of the storm's climatology record.
Hurricane Maria – A more recent and intense hurricane that caused a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.
Notes
↑ The Atlantic database called "HURDAT" begins in 1851. Since 1500, 3 potential October landfalls occurred in 1526, 1766, and 1780 respectively; all earlier into their seasons.
↑ Marshall, Logan (1912). Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea.
↑ "The Hurricane at St. Thomas". The Evening Telegraph. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 11, 1867. p.1. Retrieved May 31, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Landsea, Christopher W.; etal. (May 2015). Documentation of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Changes in HURDAT. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (Report). Miami, Florida: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
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