We are halfway through hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through November 30. Residents are hoping that the Golden Isles will be spared a major storm in 2022. Fortunately, sophisticated forecasting models and warning systems provide advanced notice as a storm approaches. In 1898, the Federal government established the first hurricane warning network, but it could not prepare Coastal Georgia residents for one of the most destructive storms of the 19th century.
The Hurricane of 1898 formed in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean in late September and moved along a northwestern path toward the United States. By Sunday, October 2, it was a major storm, later classified as Category 4. Making landfall at Cumberland Island, the accompanying “tidal wave” produced a 16-foot surge as it hit the coast of Georgia.
The residents of Brunswick endured hours of torrential rain and high winds. The streets became rivers, and the townspeople frantically sought refuge in the sturdiest buildings, fearing their homes would collapse as water surged in and trees fell. According to the Savannah Morning News (October 4), “one to two hundred thousand feet of lumber and cross ties and hundreds of barrels of naval stores” were swept off city docks, while numerous boats were blown ashore.
Image courtesy of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society
Downtown Brunswick following the 1898 Hurricane
The tidal wave swept across St. Simons Island. In a letter to his sister, Horace Gould, who rode out the storm in his Black Banks residence, wrote, “The dining room windows all burst in and the water [was] up to my waist…. The piazza was going up and down like a bucking horse and the waves were striking the sides…like a battering ram. When the water began to thump against the floor of the parlor, I feared we would have to get on the roof as the safest place in case the walls fell.” In late afternoon, when the wind subsided, Gould ventured out and found wrecked buildings, numerous fallen trees, and dead animals, both wild and domestic. At the beachfront, he observed that “all the pretty cottages, bath houses, etc., are piled in one inextricable mass next to the woods.”
The flooding in Brunswick was captured in a number of photographs, now preserved in the Coastal Georgia Historical Society archives. The image shown here is a view of Newcastle Street, with the recently built City Hall on the left. A 1898 newspaper described the event, saying, "The whole town was a solid sheet of water. The mules from McCrary's Livery Stable were taken to the Baptist Church to save them from being drowned – and they promptly showed their gratitude by eating all available hymn books."
Coastal Georgia Historical Society presents this article and images from our archives as part of our mission “to connect people to Coastal Georgia’s dynamic history.” The Society operates the iconic St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the World War II Home Front Museum, housed in the Historic Coast Guard Station at East Beach. To learn more about the Society, its museums, diverse programs, and membership, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
