Great Sea Island Hurricane

The 1893 Sea Islands hurricane was a deadly major hurricane that struck the Sea Islands of Beaufort County on August 27, 1893.

story by Mark W. Buyck, III

The South Carolina Climatology Office updated a report in May of this year analyzing tropical storm impacts on the state since 1851. The time frame analyzed indicates that 263 tropical storms or hurricanes have impacted the state with 140 of those having their storm centers tracking through South Carolina. 61 were Category 1 or higher and 44 made direct landfall on the South Carolina coast. Only 4 of the landfalling hurricanes have been Category 3 or higher. Those 4 storms were the Great 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane, Hurricane Hazel (1954), Hurricane Gracie (1959), and the most recent, Hurricane Hugo (1989). The report estimates that there is an 80% chance of South Carolina being impacted by a tropical storm in any given year.

The Great Sea Islands Hurricane was the most deadly storm to ever hit the state. It is estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 people drowned in the Beaufort area. All but 2 of the deaths were African Americans. The majority of the homes on the islands were elevated less than 2’ and were not built to withstand the 120 mph winds and 15’ storm surge.

Beaufort County at the time of the storm had a population of 31,400 people, of these only 2,700 were white. The vast majority of African Americans were former slaves and their offspring. Most were farmers. Many lived on land they had purchased following the Civil War. At that time, the county was remote and warnings of the impending storm did not reach the islanders. It was 4 days after the storm before Governor Tillman received notice of the dire situation of the survivors.

Tillman contacted the American Red Cross requesting assistance. Three (3) weeks after the storm, Clara Barton arrived in Beaufort to coordinate the relief efforts. Clara Barton was familiar with the area because she had spent nine (9) months on Hilton Head Island during the Civil War. She arrived to 30,000 sick, homeless, grieving souls who had no clean water to drink and no food. She set up warehouses in Beaufort and set up a schedule for families to receive provisions. She rewarded those willing to participate in the rebuilding efforts with double provisions. Barton continued her operations in Beaufort for seven (7) months. All of the Red Cross relief efforts were privately funded as neither the state nor the federal government appropriated any funds.

Beaufort County would not recover to its prestorm economic status until the World War II period. The Great Sea Island Hurricane marked the beginning of the end of the phosphate business in the state. Phosphate was being mined in coastal marsh areas and sold to fertilizer companies for distribution throughout the world. The storm likely put an end to rice cultivation in the state once and for all.

It is estimated that if the same size storm were to hit Beaufort County today, given the growth in the area over the last 75 years, damages would be in the $50B range.