12–25

lornajarrettblanchard September 29, 1959

–25 Blanchard tally based upon State breakouts below.
— 2 Florida
— 1 Georgia
— 1 North Carolina
— 9 South Carolina
–12 Virginia (Hurricane Gracie-spawned tornadoes.)
–22 Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 205.

Florida ( 2)
— 2 Miami Beach Drownings. Hamilton News Journal, OH. “…10 Dead…Big Blow,” 9-30-59.
— 2 Miami Beach. Drownings; large wave sweeps couple off jetty into ocean; Rutherfords.

Georgia ( 1)
— 1 Statesboro. Electrocution; Alex Sheffield stepped on a live wire blown down by the wind.

North Carolina ( 1)
— 1 Traffic accident “attributed to the wind or rain.”

South Carolina ( 9)
–11 Jordan, Dukes, Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P. 52.
— 9 Wikipedia. “Hurricane Gracie.” 8-21-2022 edit. (Notes 10 deaths in GA and SC.)
— 7 AP. “South Carolina Has Seven Deaths Due to Hurricane.” Florence Morning News, SC, 10-1-1959, 1.
— 6 Traffic accidents “attributed to the wind or rain.”
— 3 Traffic Accidents. Hamilton Daily News Journal, OH. “List 10 Dead…Big Blow,” 9-30-59.
— 1 Beaufort area. Automobile “upended by violent winds…”
— 1 Beaufort. Tree crashes into car killing man.

South Carolina and Georgia (10)
–10 National Weather Service, Charleston, SC. “Hurricane Gracie: Sep 29, 1959. Summary.”

Virginia (12) (Tornadoes)
— 12 NWS. 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Gracie. Charleston, SC WFO. 2009
— 12 NWS. Virginia Tornadoes. Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecasting Office, 2001
— 11 Grazulis 1993. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. (Albemarle County, VA) pp. 508, 1025.
— 11 NWS FO, Baltimore/Washington. Virginia Tornado Database. Sterling, VA, Sep 9, 2004.
— 11 NWS. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Wakefield, VA WFO.

Narrative Information

Jordan on SC: “1959 Sept. 29 (3) Extreme storm; packed hurricane force winds SE 80 mph; storm surge only 8.6 feet (storm arrived on lower SC coast at dead low water); property losses amounted to $12 millions; 11 lives were lost (both figures would have been much higher had tidal situation been different).”

National Weather Service on SC: “Prior to Hurricane Hugo, the last major hurricane to strike the South Carolina coast was Hurricane Gracie, a Category 3 storm which charged into St. Helena Sound 50 years ago just before noon EST on Tuesday, September 29, 1959. Wind gusts measured as high as 138 mph near Beaufort and estimated at least 150 mph along coastal sections of Beaufort, Colleton and Charleston Counties downed many trees and power lines and damaged numerous structures. A September 30 report filed from the Weather Bureau in Charleston described damage as ‘…widespread and extensive, estimated to be 5 to 10 million dollars and perhaps more.’ The preliminary U.S. Weather Bureau report published in October, 1959, stated, ‘Wind damage from Gracie was the worst from a hurricane in the history of Beaufort, South Carolina.’ In an Island Packet article (“Residents Recall Hurricane Gracie”, published May 26, 2009), Marti Covington described a post-hurricane Beaufort County landscape where downed trees and power lines prevented travel, and where electricity and clean drinking water remained unavailable for ‘weeks’. The National Guard helped clean up the extensive damage in Beaufort County. Across St. Helena Sound on Edisto Island, the beach was destroyed and was later rebuilt with ‘shell hash’ which remains in place to this day.

‘After landfall along the South Carolina coast, Gracie continued to push inland toward the northwest and north, producing heavy rain and tornadoes. A tornado in Ivy, VA, near Charlottesville, caused 12 fatalities.

‘The fact that the storm came ashore at low tide limited the impact of the storm surge and could have prevented an epic storm surge disaster along the South Carolina coast.’” (NWS. 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Gracie. Charleston, SC WFO. 2009.)

National Weather Service: “While Hurricane Gracie weakened to a tropical storm and crossed the extreme southwest portion of the state, it spawn killer tornadoes in central Virginia. This was the second deadliest tornado day for Virginia history. Three strong F3 tornadoes struck in the Charlottesville area. The first tornado struck Greene county around 4 pm. It tracked two miles hitting a cement block highway department building near Standardsville and unroofing it. Cars were thrown from the road and small buildings were demolished. The St. George Elementary School was destroyed. The grounds Keeper died from injuries received in a shed during the storm. Nine other people were injured. The second tornado struck Albemarle County around 430 pm and tracked 4 miles. It moved east from Mechum River near Crozet to Ivy which is about 6 miles west of Charlottesville. 11 people were killed, 10 of them were in a single building. It was a duplex that had been used as the apple pickers’ bunk house. One person was crushed under a chimney of a nearby home. Four people were injured. The third tornado tracked six and a half miles on the ground through Fluvanna, but fortunately, no one was injured. It badly damaged 14 homes and many were unroofed 3 miles west of Palmyra. A church, two barns and two of the 14 homes were completely destroyed. There was also some damage in Cunningham.” (NWS. Virginia Tornadoes. Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecasting Office, 2001)

National Weather Service: “1959 September 30 GRACIE. Passed through western Virginia, 6.79 inches of rain at Norfolk Airport in 24 hours. Storm spawned a tornado eight miles west of Charlottesville, killing 11 people.” (NWS. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Wakefield, VA WFO.)

Sources

Associated Press. “140 MPH Winds Smash Carolina Coast.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL. 9-30-1959, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-tribune-sep-30-1959-p-1/

Associated Press. “Georgians Busy Cleaning Up In Storm Wake.” Thomasville Times-Enterprise, GA, 9-30-1959, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/thomasville-times-enterprise-sep-30-1959-p-1/

Associated Press. “Gracie Kills Six; Damage in Millions.” News Tribune, Fort Pierce, FL. 9-30-1959, p. 3. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-pierce-news-tribune-sep-30-1959-p-3/

Associated Press. “South Carolina Has Seven Deaths Due to Hurricane.” Florence Morning News, SC, 10-1-1959, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/florence-morning-news-oct-01-1959-p-1/

Associated Press. “Storm Leaves Heavy Damage, 10 Fatalities.” Evening Telegram, Rocky Mount, NC. 9-30-1959, 1. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/rocky-mount-evening-telegram-sep-30-1959-p-1/

Burt, Christopher C. and Mark Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, 304 pages. Google preview accessed 1-1-2014 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NuP7ATq9nWgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Hamilton Daily News Journal, OH. “List 10 Dead…Big Blow,” 9-30-1959, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=155844473

Jordan, Laylon Wayne, with Robert Dukes, Jr. and Ted Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. Charleston, SC: The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. Undated. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://www.scseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/South-Carolina-Hurricane-History-1980.pdf

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, WI. “Storm Gracie, Dying by Hour,” 10-1-1959, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8983172

National Weather Service, Charleston, SC. “Hurricane Gracie: Sep 29, 1959. Summary.” Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/chs/events/HurricaneGracie1959.pdf

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Baltimore/Washington. Virginia Tornado Database. Sterling, VA: NWS LWX FO. 9-9-2004. Accessed at:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/tornadoes/tor-base.htm

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Baltimore/Washington. Virginia Tornadoes. “Hurricanes Spawning Tornadoes.” NWS, NOAA. 2-9-2001 update. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/va-tors.html

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Charleston, SC WFO. 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Gracie. 2009. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/chs/events/HurrGracie50thAnniv.pdf

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Accessed 1-5-2018 at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/akq/adobe_pdf/Hurrhist.pdf

UPI (United Press International). “Scores of Edisto Isle Homes Flattened by 140 MPH Winds.” Aiken Standard and Review, SC. 9-30-1959, p. 1. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/aiken-standard-and-review-sep-30-1959-p-1/

Wikipedia. “Hurricane Gracie.” 8-21-2022 edit. Accessed 9-3-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Gracie