The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-01-24
THE BENGAL CYCLONE.
Further Particulars OF the Terrible Loss Of
Life and Property.

THE BENGAL CYCLONE.
Further Particulars Of the Terrible Loss o
! Life aud Property.
The London Times furnishes a few
additional particulars concerning the
effects of the cyclone wave which, on the
thirty-frst Of October, came upon the
slumbering inhabitants of the Backer
g1,nge and neighboring districts like 6
, thief in the night. The Times says
The comparatively few details that have
yet reached us concerning the effects Of
the cyclone wave which, at midnight, or
October 81, suddenly swooped round the
low-lying district at the mouth of the
Ganges, arc sufficient to mark the event
as probably the most destructive catas'
trophe by water on authentic record. II
is to be feared that, when anything like
an accurate account has been taken OF
! the destruction to life and property
which was caused, it will be found con.
siderably to exceed the estimate already
made, appallingly high MS that is. It is
not easy to form anyadequate idea of the
destruction of life which has occurred
| 215, 900 lives lost in q space Of time that
mig ght also be counted by minutes
This number exceeds by several thou-
sand the population of Cumberland, is
four times the loss of life caused by the
Hooghly cyclone of October, 1864, and
bears about the same proportion to the
number of deaths caused by the Lisbon
earthquake of the middle of last century.
The immediate cause of the recent catas-
trophe in the Backergunge and neighbor-
ing districts was what is known rs n cy-
clone wave, or storm wave. At eleven
o'clock. we are told, on the night of the
storm there were no signs Of danger; be-
fore midnight the cyclone wave swept
ever ON area probably close on three
thousand square miles, to depth in
places of twenty feet, waking the sleep
! ing inhabit lnts only to a consciousness
of their terrible fate.
CYCLOl'Es OF OTHER PERIODS.
One Of the earliest cyclones of which
details have been recorded occurred, not
in the usual season, but in December,
1889. 1t WAS accompanied by huge
storm wave, which broke op the coast at
Coringa, near the mouth of the Godarery.
In this case, rs in several other cases on
record, the coast was swept by three sue
cessive waves, the first of which drove
all before it, and flooded the town with
several feet of water; the second over
topped the first and covered all the
neighboring district, while the third
dashed its waters over NIL. Nearly all
the town, with thirty thousand inhabi-
tants, was destroyed, while the shipping
at anchor in the bay were thrown far up
on to the land. This very spot was
visited by al almost equally destructive
cyclone wave in 1889. On October 81,
1881. $50 miles of the country at the
mouth of the Gauges was swept by q
wave which obliterated 300 native vii
lagos and destroyed 1000 of the inhabi-
tants. Other destructive hurricanes are
recorded as having occurred on the same
coast on October 7, 1882, and September
81, 1889. On October 81, 1888, wave
swept the mouth of the Hooghly and
overwhelmed 10000 people; while, on
the twenty-frst of the previous May,
three successive waves. rs at Coringa,
swept away 600 villages and destroyed
$4,000 people. Tile last of these waves
was nine feet higher than the highest
tide, and the barometer is said to have
suddenly fallen as much MS two inches.
THE CALCUTTA CYCLONE.
In the Calcutta cyclone Of October ),
1864, the devastation was almost solely
due to the effect of the cyclone wave, the
extent of country laid under water having
been / 800 square miles. 1t was of little
avail that the banks of the Hooghly and
its feeders, and the islands at it's mouth
were protected by dikes and embank-
ments of from eight to ten feet high ;
these, even if they had been strong
enoug III to withstand the shock of the
wave, were far overtopped by it, and the
land inside laid under water to depth
of from six feet to eighteen feet. In the
Hooghly the greatest height of this men,
orable cyclone wave recorded WAS sixteen
and half feet above high spring-tide
level, and about twenty-seven feet above
the mean level of the sea. Even rs far
up MS Calcutta it was about the same
height as the highest spring tide, and
fourteen and half feet above the mean
sea level. The wave was felt as high up
as Mehulpore, ON the Matabang gha.. The
loss of life directly caused by the storm
wave was not less than sc, 900, and would
probably have been enormously greater
had the wave caught the people asleep,
as has been the case ut Backergunge.
In the brief space Of one month after
the Hooghly disaster of 1864. on Novem-
Der 5, scarcely less destructive wave
dashed over the coast at Masulipatam, at
the mouth of the Kistnah, where the
curve of the coast is precisely OF nature
to intercept and concentrate the power OF
such a wave. The loss of life in this
case was something like $4,000 people.
Only three years later, November l.,
1867, the Calcutta district had another
similar visitation, happily not nearly so
destructive, as only 1000 lives were lost,
though 10000 native huts were swept
away.
OF all recorded previous catastrophies
of this kind, the most terrible occurred
in 1862, and the natives still remember
it as the banya or food of 1929 B. 5.
This cyclone appears to have had n very
wide range, extending far inland, and to
the east, and far beyond Calcutta to the
west. It swept over all the islands at the
mouth of the Hooghly and over the
neighboring coasts. Fortunately the
wave broke in the early evening, and, rs
the cyclone had been raging for some
time, the people were in some measure
prepared. STILL it is stated, 1000 OF
the inhabitants and as many cattle were
destroyed, and property to the extent OF
more than 1000, 900 rupees.
Tho Sinntpnnth Rulc