1921 Hurricane
October 25, 1921
Category 4 at landfall
Category 4, 24 hours prior to landfall
Winds: 100 mph (Hurdat)
Surge Heights/ Water levels:
Damage
Description: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tbw/?n=tampabay1921hurricane#
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Between 5 and 10 million dollars in damage
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Damages to crops, citrus trees
·
Worst damage found near Hillsborough River along bay
shore
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3 confirmed fatalities
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Roads blocked and houses damaged
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Estimated 10-12 feet storm surge in rocky point
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Flooding alongside the Hillsborough river
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/webspecials02/andrew/day4/story1.shtml
o 10-12 foot
wall of water pushed into Tampa Bay
o It flooded
Pass-a-Grille, destroyed the wooden Casino in Gulfport and damaged the
Municipal Pier in St. Petersburg. It carved Caladesi Island from Honeymoon
Island, and badly damaged what was then a thriving citrus crop in Pinellas and
throughout the state's midsection.
o In Tampa,
water submerged Bayshore Boulevard, flooding many of the the city's finest
homes, washing away sea walls, downing telephone and power lines and rising
above the gas lamps that lined the street. A pavilion and bath house at Ballast
Point were destroyed, and the Tampa Yacht and Country Club was severely
damaged.
o the
combined population of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Citrus and Hernando
counties was only 135,000
o Florida's
Hurricane History- Book
o Record
rainfall 8.53 in.
v http://www.tampapix.com/hurricane.htm
o Bay reached
3.6 feet above normal and continued to rise
o Highest
tide calculated 10.5
o Total
rainfall in collected was 8.53 inches more supposedly got blown away
o Storm
surges destroyed sea walls and flooded streets
o “Tampa: The rains began around 4am on Sunday, Oct.
23rd and continued with hardly a break until 9:15pm of Tuesday, the 25th. The barometer fell slowly at first, then more
rapidly after midnight of Monday, the 24th.
At the nearing of the storm, tides in the bay fell gradually, from 7
tenths of a foot on the 24th, to zero at 2pm.
During the night the bay began to rise and reached 3.6 feet above
normal, continuing to rise and at 8am on the 25th, further reading could not be
obtained, the tide being over the tidal gage.”
o “The total
recorded rainfall in Tampa was 8.53 inches, but it is believed that more probably
fell and was blown out of the rain gage.
Tarpon Springs recorded 8.7 inches and Brooksville, 9.5 inches”
o “During the
first part of the hurricane, the water was blown out of the bay. Then the eye
of the storm passed over, but no one knew about the eye of the storm. It just became very quiet and calm. Everyone
went outside to see the damage with roofs blown off and signs blown down. She
and her father walked down to the shore and the muddy bottom of the bay could
be seen for a long way out. Pianos, furniture,
stoves and litter of all kinds were blown out of houses to litter yards and
streets. A streetcar had gone to Port Tampa and was on the way back when it was
swamped at Howard Avenue. The motorman abandoned the car and water covered the
trolley, which swayed in the water. Nell
and her father, and neighbors, were on the shore when the eye of the storm
passed over, and the wind came from the opposite direction. It blew the water
back into the bay, harder than it did the first time. The wind blew her down on
the shore, the water was up to her waist and she couldn't walk. She was rescued
by her father. The water came up to the first floor of homes along Bayshore.”
o “In Tampa,
the storm surge caused significant damage.
Water submerged Bayshore Boulevard, flooding many of the city's finest
homes, washing away sea walls, downing telephone and power lines and rising
above the gas lamps that lined the street.
The seawall along Bayshore Boulevard was destroyed. Long stretches of
the Ballast Point street car line were undermined. And the popular excursion
boat S.S. Favorite was washed ashore at Plant Park. A pavilion and bath house at Ballast Point
were badly damaged, and the Tampa Yacht and Country Club was severely damaged”
The "Favorite" tossed
aground from storm surge onto Plant Park along the Hillsborough River
Boat,
"Safe & Sane" washed ashore on Atlantic Coast Line freight depot
dock on the Hillsborough River
The
schooner Thomas B. Garland wrecked against the wharf
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Flooding
at Parker and Eagle Streets, Hyde Park
·
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1921.pdf
·
http://oceanweatherservices.com/blog1/2011/10/18/the-1921-tampa-hurricane-%E2%80%93-90-years-ago-this-month/
o “Most of the damage done by this storm in Tampa and St. Petersburg was
due to the storm surge. The 10.5 foot storm surge in Tampa Bay was the highest
since the Great
Gale of 1848. The tide swept over the seawall along Bay shore Drive in
Tampa flooding some of the most expensive houses in the city.”
·
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/fredwx/comment.html?entrynum=72
o At St. Petersburg the tide was reported at 8 feet 5
inches above normal and Egmont and Sanibel islands were reported as nearly
covered with water. In St. Petersburg all four city piers were badly damaged or
destroyed.
·
o Landfall point was apparently just north of the Bay, which pushed the
storm surge up into Tampa Bay.
o landfall point in Northern Pinellas
o At 2 p.m. on Oct. 25, the storm surge was measured
at 8.5 feet in St. Petersburg and 4-5 feet in Clearwater according to the
outstanding book "Florida's Hurricane History," by Jay Barnes.
·
Other hurricane
data
o
Fatalities: 8 confirmed most of them by drowning as the storm surge
inundated near shore locations.
o
it made landfall near Tarpon Springs,
FL on October 25th, with winds of about 115 miles per hour
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On Map: |
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Tide |
Rainfall |
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St. Petersburg |
8 ft. 5 inches above mean low water |
N/A |
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Tampa |
10.5 ft. above mean low water |
8.53 in. |
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Clearwater |
5 ft. 4 in. above normal high tide |
N/A |
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Tarpon Springs |
8.7 in. |
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Not Shown on Map: |
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Punta Gorda |
7 ft. above normal high tide |
N/A |
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Punta Rassa |
6 ft. above normal high water |
N/A |
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Boca Grande |
5 ft. 4 in. above normal high tide |
N/A |
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Brooksville |
9.5 in. |
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