1899 San Ciriaco hurricane
Hurricane San Ciriaco set many records on its path. Resulting in at least 3,369 deaths in Puerto Rico, the storm was the deadliest hurricane to hit the island and the strongest at the time, until the Hurricane San Felipe Segundo made landfall in 1928 as a Category 5 hurricane. It was also among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded.
Hacienda Buena Vista
In 1899, hurricane San Ciriaco struck a hard blow to coffee production in Puerto Rico. After this hurricane, Puerto Rico would never become a coffee exporter again. To exacerbate this, in 1900 the worldwide price of coffee fell to levels that made it considerably more difficult to compete. The third blow came in 1901, when Puerto Rico was included into the United States Customs System, setting the local coffee production at a competitive disadvantage over its European markets. It also dropped Puerto Rico's favored status in US markets. To compensate, the Salvador Vives switched to a successful orange growing program for the New York City market. This new phase of agriculture continued until 1956.