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.
September 1921 San Antonio floods
Shortly after, the hurricane made landfall south of Tampico, Mexico near La Leja at 0300 UTC on September 27. At the time, the cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), making it a Category 1 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. The storm's minimum barometric pressure at landfall was 985 mbar (hPa; 29.10 inHg); this would be the lowest pressure estimated in association with the storm, though it was not included in HURDAT. Just prior to landfall at 0100 UTC, a ship had reported winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) from the southeast and a pressure of 996 mbar (hPa; 29.42 inHg). Upon landfall, a barometer in Tampico reported a minimum pressure of 1003 mbar (hPa; 29.62 inHg). The Signal Corps map of the cyclone for September 7 indicated a pressure of at least 1007.5 mbar (hPa; 29.75 inHg) for the storm's outermost closed isobar, with a storm of similar nature positioned a short distance west of Jalisco, Mexico in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Once inland, the hurricane weakened, and made a northward curve before degenerating into a remnant low after 0600 UTC on September 8. The remnant low progressed northward, and moved into Texas from the state border with Mexico near Webb County. In Texas, moisture associated with the system and other contributing forces produced excessive rainfall over Central Texas, causing numerous rivers to overflow.
Despite making landfall on Tamaulipas, its impact in Mexico, if any, remains unknown. However, the decaying remnants of the hurricane moved northward as the result of a retrograding high-pressure area over East Texas, helping to produce torrential precipitation across South and Central Texas. The area of high-pressure was a westward extension of the Bermuda High, which is typically centered in the Central Atlantic. The pressure anomaly provided an abundant moisture supply to the region, increasing convergence. In addition, a separate tropical cyclone located near Barbados was able to alter the positioning of isobars over the area, such that heavy rainfall would result. Precipitation was further aided by the Balcones Escarpment and Edwards Plateau, which provided orographic lift. The rains caused severe flooding, particularly to low-lying areas.