The Weather Notebook: Lucky Savannah

Lucky Savannah
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Dave Thurlow, Host

The historic city of Savannah, Georgia, is a Mecca for tourists. Fresh breezes sail through the live oak trees. But once in a blue moon, this city is pounded by the sledgehammer winds of a major hurricane. Amazingly, that hasn't happened in over a hundred years. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow and this is The Weather Notebook.

Cities all along the East Coast have gotten their share of tropical trouble, but Savannah's been spared. No major hurricanes have struck the city this century. Why have these folks had it so easy? Part of the answer is geography. The Atlantic Coast arcs inward from north Florida to South Carolina. Hurricanes have trouble getting into the middle of this arc--they tend to either plow into Florida or scoot up to North Carolina. But Savannah's also been just plain lucky. We know this because of what happened in August of 1893.

It was the great Sea Islands storm, named after the nearby region that was settled by ex-slaves. The eye of the storm passed right over Savannah, but far worse was the tidal surge of up to 20 feet that passed over the low-lying Sea Islands. As many as two thousand residents drowned, virtually all of them African-American. Many of the survivors had little else but wild berries to eat for weeks. Even today, few people know about one of the worst weather disasters in U.S. history.

Now the Sea Islands are bursting with new immigrants. People are buying up farmland and building expensive homes in places like Hilton Head Island, just north of Savannah. None of these newcomers were around to see what a vicious hurricane once did to this very lovely--and very lucky--place.

Thanks to contributing writer Bob Henson. The Weather Notebook is underwritten by Subaru with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.