Hurricanes and the Making of Caribbean History
The 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane1899 San Ciriaco hurricane hit Puerto Rico, whose economy relied on coffee. The crop had already been facing problems with a decrease in prices and competing countries, but the hurricane wiped out any chance of rebounding from the losses of the previous years. The winds stripped the berries from the trees and the coffee exports of 1899 were only 10 percent of the average export. The losses amounted to 12 million dollars in revenue from 1899 to 1901. This left a dismal outlook on the future for farmers. Sugar was also affected by the storm, although the results were not as drastic. Only a third of the sugar crop could be harvested in 1899, but the soil was reinvigorated. The storm only affected the older haciendas, which would have been retired soon regardless of the hurricane. This allowed for newer technologies to be introduced to the sugar system and U.S. involvement increased. Overall, San Ciriaco helped and hurt the agriculture of Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Diana
The new tropical depression moved to the northwest under the influence of a mid-level trough, and rapidly intensified to a tropical storm the following day offshore of eastern Honduras; the National Hurricane Center assigned the name Diana to the system. Becoming a tropical storm, Diana further intensified, and winds reached 65 mph (105 km/h) before landfall in Felipe Carrillo Puerto in Quintana Roo occurred. The storm initially rapidly weakened over land, although it retained winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) until moving over open waters. When Diana entered the southern Gulf of Mexico, the trough of low pressure in that vicinity weakened and steering currents caused the storm to head westward. Conditions became more favorable in the Gulf of Mexico, and Diana quickly intensified, becoming a hurricane late on August 7. Hurricane Diana rapidly intensified, and briefly reached Category 2 hurricane status, attaining peak intensity with winds of 100 mph (165 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 980 mbar (hPa; 28.94 inHg). Only two hours after attaining peak intensity on August 7, Hurricane Diana made landfall near Tampico, Tamaulipas at the same intensity.