The Great Storm of 1933
(This hurricane is the storm that brought the families of many of Morattico's current residents from Tangier Island to Morattico)
 
                August 23, 1933:  The hurricane was born
                off the Cape Verde Islands. It
                reached Category 4 strength, but
                weakened to a Category two and grew in
                size before making landfall. The storm
                approached the coast with its
                area of maximum winds pushing water into
                the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.
                North winds down the bay formed a bulge
                of water in the Tidewater area
                that moved north up the Bay and its
                tributaries as the storm did. This
                storm caused record high tides up the
                entire west side of the Chesapeake
                Bay with damages the highest ever
                recorded from a storm surge. The
                hurricane caused a total of 18 deaths
                and 79 million dollars (adjusted
                to 1969) in damages in Virginia. 15
                lives were lost in the Tidewater
                area. Huge plate glass windows in
                downtown Norfolk crashed under the
                pressure of the wind showering the walks
                and streets with glass; awnings
                and signs were ripped and large shade
                tree (easy prey after the
                record-breaking rain of 6.5 inches the
                Sunday before) blew over, in many
                cases carrying electrical and telephone
                wires with them. Virtually the
                entire tidewater area including Virginia
                Beach was paralyzed by the
                storm in the way of communication,
                electricity, water service, and
                traffic. 79,000 telephones were put out
                of commission and over 600
                trees, many of them a century old, were
                uprooted in the city, while
                shrubs, gardens, lawns, and parks
                suffered severely. Highest 1-minute
                wind speed was 70 mph at Norfolk, 82 mph
                at Cape Henry, and 88 mph at
                NAS, Norfolk. As the storm moved north
                out of the densely populated
                tidewater area, damages in the
                commonwealth were largely to crops: $2
                million (1933 dollars) in corn, $2
                million in tobacco, $750,000 in
                apples and half a million in other crops.
                         Record Tidal Surge: Established
                the record high tide of 9.8
                feet above Mean Low Low Water (8.0 ft
                MSL) at Sewells Point with 9.0 ft
                in Norfolk and 9.3 ft at Portsmouth
                gages. The downtown business area
                was flooded as never seen before. Stores
                on Granby Street were flooded,
                on the west side, from Atlantic Hotel to
                Tazewell Street (about 4
                blocks) and for nearly the same distance
                on the east side, the water
                being 4 feet deep on the street floor of
                many businesses, damaging
                stocks of goods and fixtures, as well as
                the structures. Damage to
                merchandise, stored in the warehouses
                and piers also suffered heavy
                damage. On Willoughby Spit, water
                reached the ceiling of many homes and
                141 were destroyed. Water at Virginia
                Beach reached 8.6 ft MSL on the
                Atlantic side (the tide reached two
                blocks in from the beach), 8.6 ft
                MSL at Lynnhaven Inlet, 8 ft at
                Lynnhaven Bay and at East Bridge on the
                Elizabeth River and only 3.8 ft MSL at
                Back Bay. Extensive damage to
                water front property occurred. At
                Buckroe Beach and Old Point, 60 homes
                and stores were demolished in addition
                to concession stands, fishing
                camps and seine houses. West Point on
                the York River had is highest tide
                of 10 feet Mean Low Water (8.5 ft MSL)
                which is 5 feet above flood level
                where minimum damage begins. About 5% of
                the residential area was
                flooded and a paper mill had about 5
                feet of water. Yorktown also had
                considerable flooding. It reached an
                estimated 9.7 feet above Mean Low
                Water which is about over 5 feet above
                were damage from flooding begins.
                Gwynn Island in Mathews County estimated
                a tide of 8 feet Mean Low Water
                for New Point Comfort (6.9 ft MSL in
                Matthews). Roads begin to flood at
                about 5 ft Mean Low Water. Homes, an
                oyster plant and a store were
                flooded. Urbanna in Middlesex County on
                the Rappahannock River estimated
                their highest tide at 5.7 ft Mean Low
                Water (7 ft MSL). Some summer
                cottages and an oyster plant had about 4
                feet of water. Higher up river,
                Tappahannock had a tide estimated at 8
                ft Mean Low Water which is about
                4 ft above flood. Lower on the River,
                Morattico in Lancaster County
                reached an estimated tide of 7 ft above
                Mean Low Water and the entire
                town floods at 6 feet with roads
                flooding at 4.5 ft. At Dahlgren on the
                Potomac River, tides were estimated to
                have reached 8.5 ft above Mean
                Low Water (close to 8 ft MSL) by the
                Dock Supervisor.