Louisiana Hurricane History:
Early 19th Century

David Roth*
National Weather Service
Lake Charles, LA

1811: Hurricane struck New Orleans.    

August 19-20th, 1812: A hurricane struck just west of New Orleans. At 5 PM on the 19th, winds began out of the northeast in New Orleans. Winds increased to a "perfect hurricane" at 11 PM. Winds abated after 2:30 PM the next day. Nearly all buildings suffered. All window panes in City Hall were broken. Fifteen feet of water covered the city. Extensive damage to buildings, trees, and 53 boats was seen. The levee was destroyed, which allowed the storm surge to submerge areas south of the city. Plaquemines Parish went under as much as 15 feet of Gulf water. Sugar crops suffered severely. Nearly 100 people died during the storm. Losses totaled $6 million.

Some public panic set in when after the storm rumors spread that the British had taken over Fort St. Phillip; this storm struck during the thick of the War of 1812 and the fort was controlled by the Americans at the time. In fact, the British fleet approaching the area was scattered widely across the Gulf during the storm. Fort St. Phillip itself went underwater.    

August 19, 1813: Hurricane affected Gulf coast. Considered very destructive.    

July 25-28, 1819: Hurricane affected the coast from Louisiana to Alabama. Its full force was felt at Bay St. Louis. New Orleans was at the fringe of the storm and suffered no severe damage. Ships at Balize (Pilottown) suffered a strong gale for 24 hours, but only 3 ships were grounded. Lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne rose 5 to 6 feet during the storm. Forty one lives were lost on the U.S. Man of War schooner Firebrand, a 150 ton gun ship, while it lay off the west end of Cat Island. In total, 43 people lost their lives.    

September 15-17, 1821: A second much larger yet weaker hurricane struck near Bay St. Louis. The gale continued for over 24 hours at New Orleans. A dozen willow trees were the main casualties there. The storm was more damaging at Petite Coquille, where 4 soldiers drowned when an 8 foot storm surge overwashed the island. The fort there was nearly swept away. In all, over 35 people died in the tempest.    

August 16-17th, 1831: The Great Barbados hurricane, very destructive, hit just west of Last Island, west of Baton Rouge. Killed 1500 people along its path from Barbados to New Orleans. A fishing village on Grand Isle was destroyed when the tide rose 6 feet. Sugarcane crops were damaged severely from Baton Rouge to Pointe a la Hache. Orchards and gardens in Plaquemines parish sustained considerable damage.    

August 28-29, 1831: A strong tropical storm struck Southwest Louisiana. High tides were seen west of Lake Borgne...gales were seen in New Orleans overnight on the 28-29th. Gales raged much more severely near the Sabine River and across Central Louisiana near Opelousas and Attakapas. Cotton was ruined in Baton Rouge and Alexandria due to the heavy rains and winds. High winds were noted as far northwest as Fort Jessup, southwest of Natchitoches.    

October 6-7, 1837: Racer's Storm hit Matamoros, Mexico before recurving northeast and striking Louisiana coast just east of Cameron; moved east across Gulf coast before heading across North Carolina and then out into the Atlantic. Storm caused a surge of 8 feet of water above high tide on Lake Pontchartrain.

New Orleans experienced a "gale" on the 5th and 6th, destroying chimneys, awnings, and many area roofs. The City Exchange on Lewis Street, which was under construction at the time, suffered much damage. The original wooden Bayou St. John lighthouse, the first built by the U.S. Government outside the original 13 colonies, was swept into obscurity. All wharves along the Mississippi coast were washed away with the tide. The storm caused widespread flooding and considerable damage to shipping; all boats, including 4 steamboats, perished in the storm.

Lower portions of New Orleans were submerged. Many of the buildings were damaged or carried away by the tide. Crops were seriously damaged along both sides of the Mississippi, particularly sugarcane and cotton. Six lives were lost. See Texas Hurricane History for more on the earlier history of this storm.

September 14-17th, 1839: This storm struck Charley's Lake (later named Charleston, then Lake Charles). An "appearance of rain" was noted in the T. Rigmaiden Diary on the 14th. Rain began on the 15th with a "hard wind". Rainfall increased in intensity on the 16th. By the 17th, the rain and wind subsided, while cloudiness lingered.

June 19th-23rd, 1840: Another reference to a tropical storm appears in the diary in June of the next year. An "all day rain" began on the 19th and continued for days. Wind increased by the 21st, as corn was "blown down in the field". The center of the cyclone passed to the west of Charley's Lake (Charleston, Lake Charles), as a "hard south wind" blew through the area. Rain continued until the 23rd.

June 11-15th, 1844: Charleston (Lake Charles) experiences another storm. During the 10th and 11th, threatening skies brought the promise of rain. A "very hard rain" materialized on the 12th. A continuation of the deluge on the 13th led to the bending of corn stalks and the washing away of a bridge. Rainfall continued through the 15th.

April 3rd-4th, 1846: Hurricane hits Balize, near the Mouth of the Mississippi. Considered the most damaging since 1831. The storm cut a new boat channel between Cat Island and its lighthouse. It is possible this was an intense springtime low in the Gulf of Mexico, similar to the March storm of 1993, and not of tropical origin due to its time of occurrence.

Southwest Louisiana saw the fury of the cyclone as well. It rained throughout the 3rd with a "very hard wind". Flooding developed at Charleston (Lake Charles) on the 4th, causing waters to encroach upon area residences and sweeping away fences. Six inches of rain fell in all. Showery weather continued through the 7th.

* Author's current affiliation: NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Camp Springs, Maryland