1827 North Carolina hurricane
The 1827 North Carolina hurricane caused severe impacts along its track through the northeastern Caribbean Sea and up the East Coast of the United States in late August 1827.
First observed over the Leeward Islands on August 17, the storm continued northwest, passing over Puerto Rico and the northern coastline of Hispaniola.
The cyclone emerged back into the Atlantic Ocean around Norfolk, Virginia, and grazed the New England coastline before last being observed offshore Nova Scotia on August 28.
[1] On August 25, the storm – thought to have been as strong as Category 4 strength on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale – moved ashore along the North Carolina coastline.
[1] The 1827 hurricane first made its presence known in Antigua and Saint Croix on August 17, where on the latter island the wind was regarded as "the worst in forty years" and continued for up to ten hours.
[1] Offshore the Southeastern United States, the ship Lavinia en route to New Orleans from New York City intercepted the powerful hurricane.
Almost simultaneously, the ship Brandt from Charleston, South Carolina bound for New York encountered winds that "blew a perfect hurricane," with its sails torn apart and reduced to bare poles.
[4] One resident recounted that waves washed above garden fences up to 1.3 miles (2.1 km) inland,[1] while other reports suggested that storm tides surpassed 10 feet (3.0 m) above normal levels.
Corn and cotton crops were in some cases torn to pieces, and piles of wheat which had been stacked in fields were swept downstream.
[7] At Cedar Hummock, a large ship en route from the Bay of Honduras to London ran aground during the height of the hurricane but was set back on its way after the storm passed.
The most well-known encounter with this hurricane came about 13.5 miles (21.7 km) offshore Cape Hatteras, where the Diamond Shoals lightship was positioned just four years prior.
A two-story building on Talbot Street in Norfolk had its second floor carried downwind, numerous cattle were swept away, and a mill dam was completely destroyed, with the bridge above it removed in the process.
A brick building was destroyed, a team boat was sunk at its wharf, and some ships at the Navy Yard were ripped from their fasts but otherwise sustained no damage.
The schooner Albion was gravely injured when nearly all of its sails were blown away, when it lost its main, jib-boom, and fore-top mast, and when all objects were swept off the ship's deck, including the caboose.
The brig Liberty from Boston ran aground on the south side of Portsmouth, while the schooner Mulberry sustained severe damage; passengers overthrew cargo to prevent the ship from sinking.
