The Great Bahamian Hurricanes of 1926

Every year, hurricanes seem to be increasingly severe and unpredictable, ensuring that they remain one of the most frequent topics of conversation in our everyday lives. This Great Bahamian Hurricanes of 1926 book provides you with the perfect introduction to the complexities and dynamics of hurricanes, focusing on how they develop, what causes them to be so powerful, the history behind them and how hurricanes affect us all, and much more. Whether you’re interested in learning a few little-known facts about hurricanes in general to impress your family, friends or co-workers or simply in the process of becoming an amateur meteorologist, this book has all you need to know to understand the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of hurricanes and of these three powerful hurricanes impact on the Bahamian Society in 1926. Wayne Neely tells the story of three of the worst natural catastrophes in the history of the Bahamas. But this book is a story not only of three big storms, but of the many Bahamians who had to endure them. These storms struck as the men, women, and children of the Bahamas were in the midst of the sponging era. In telling individual stories of heroism and cowardice, tragedy and redemption, Wayne brings these storms vividly to life. The awesome power of these three hurricanes changed the lives of many thousands of people here in the Bahamas because of the great damages they inflicted on our Bahamian Community. Each hurricane season brings with it a remainder that our tenure on this earth is subject to many factors over which we have no control, and powerful hurricanes like these ones are a great remainder of this fact. This book provides a rare glimpse of three significant meteorological events that affected every part the Bahamian Society in 1926. Through vivid and unique historical photographs of actual damages from these three storms, this book shows the widespread devastation that these three storms inflicted on our country of the Bahamas. Drawing on his unique database of many newspaper accounts, ships and Family Island Commissioners reports from throughout the Bahamas, and captivating personal recorded recollections from all aspects of the Bahamian Society, Wayne provides a fascinating glimpse of these hurricanes as they devastated the Bahamas. But he also explains with childlike clarity the scope and character of hurricanes and what makes them work. A question that has often been asked of me while doing research on these historic Bahamian hurricanes is; “Why write on historic hurricanes in the Bahamas, when hardly any one knows anything about them?” My answer to this question is often two-fold; first to inform or remind people that hurricanes can and do happen here in the Bahamas, and that many of these storms have and will continue to cause extensive damage and death. Second, to allow the people of the Bahamas to see what damage has been done in the past, and to show how to prepare for these storms in the future. Before I decided to write these series of books dealing with the impact of these historic hurricanes on the Bahamas, there was very little in the mainstream Bahamian historical books dealing with these hurricanes even though they were quite powerful, devastating, record breaking and deadly storms. If there were any mention of them, chances are they would often be summed up in perhaps just one or two sentences. I felt the many victims of these powerful hurricanes deserved more than that, so I sought to document these storms so that future generations of Bahamians can learn about these storms and the great impact that they had on our Bahamian Society in 1926. Every once in a long while, the Bahamas is hit by what we meteorologists call a ‘Great’ hurricane that leaves an embedded set of footprints in the sands of Bahamian history for generations to follow. The 1926 Hurricane season was quite distinct and unique in the sense that three of these ‘Great’ hurricanes made their presence felt here on this island nation of the Bahamas in a significant way. This book will showcase these three powerful storms which caused widespread devastation on all of the islands here on the Bahamas and its then number one industry of sponging. Even to this day, these storms remain three of the most deadly and powerful storms to ever hit the Bahamas. These storms in 1926 killed more people than all of the storms that struck the Bahamas from 1927 to 2008 combined. These storms struck suddenly with little or no warnings especially on the Family Islands where communications were limited in scope. By the time these storms were over, hundreds of persons were dead and thousands more were left homeless. Many of them wandered the streets for hours in search of loved ones who were missing and those on the Family Islands wandered aimlessly throughout the settlements standing in awe of the significant damage and destruction brought on by these three storms. Throughout the Bahamas, there was widespread devastation because these hurricanes crippled the economy of the Bahamas and almost brought it to a virtual standstill. These hurricanes struck before satellites tracked storms or forecasters gave them official names, but from Grand Bahama in the north to Inagua in the south, they experienced the full fury of these hurricanes as no island was left untouched. Weather and climate extremes such as devastating hurricanes can significantly impact the economics of the Bahamas. Interdisciplinary in scope, this book will explore the meteorological, physical, cultural, economic, psychological, and statistical aspects of these three hurricanes and how they affected life here in the Bahamas. In addition, it will present a no holds barred look at hurricanes in general and then at these great hurricanes which occurred in 1926. On July 25, Nassauvians reluctantly heeded the Weather Bureau's hurricane warnings. The wireless telegram from Washington read: “A hurricane of increasing intensity was heading towards Haiti and was following the usual track of storms originating in that location and was very unlikely that the Bahamas would be affected.” However, some people still barricaded and battened up their houses and made preparations for this underestimated but impending storm just in case it changed its course. However, by Sunday afternoon just before the hurricane struck, there were a series of additional Weather Bureau telegrams advising these residents that the storm will not only hit the Bahamas dead-on but will perhaps travel straight up the island chain affecting every single island in the archipelago. However, things were quite different on the Family Islands and they had to fend for themselves because many of them never got these messages because of the lack of communications with the capital of Nassau. The city of Nassau did not fare so well nor did any other island in the chain of islands. The storm crashed into Nassau at about 2:00am on July 26 and after the hurricane, Nassau became a hurricane ravaged ‘war-zone.’ The Governor of these islands in 1926, Sir Harry Cordeaux would later be compelled to write in his report: “Nassau was isolated in a sea of raving white water, toppled trees, utility poles and hurricane ravaged houses throughout the island.” Finally, the first storm ceased and Bahamians who had boarded up their windows and doors unboarded them and stepped outside to assess the damage. Misinterpreting the calm, they didn't realize they were stepping into the eye of the storm. Some casualties succumbed after the lull. During the hurricane's second half, winds reached a terrifying 135 miles per hour, and rain drowned many persons who didn't reach shelter in time. Structural damages were astonishing, as utility poles were hurtled through the air, fields were destroyed and roofs were completely torn from buildings. Electricity, telephone and running water were cut off to the select few residents who were lucky enough to have those amenities.