Episode 23: The Hurricane Lady of St. Augustine
If you’re from the coastal American south, the days of June 1 to November 30th sit a little differently than the rest.
For over 60 million Americans, they live in an area that is vulnerable to one of the greatest forces of mother nature, the hurricane. The end of November marks the end of hurricane season in the South East United States and the Carribbean.
The recent hurricane Nichole is among the latest in the season of hurricanes to touch land in Florida, the next one closest being hurricane Kate in 1985.
And though it may be time to put away the storm shutters - the towns breathe a sigh of relief as another storm has passed with minimal damage compared to what could be wreacked by a direct hit.
And some are giving homage to someone who they believe protects st. Augustine from a direct hit of a storm.
Ever since I was a little girl, there has been a tale of a force who watches over saint augustine.
This force protects the town, supposedly preventing the eye of the hurricane from coming directly on the town.
Either because of local folklore, Spanish Superstition, catholic hope, or religious miracle, the hurricane lady has lived in St. Augustine for over 150 years, allegedly ensuring the safety of the residents.
SHOW NOTES:
00 HURRICANE SEASON & AMERICANS IMPACTED
If you’re from the coastal American south, the days of June 1 to November 30th sit a little differently than the rest. For over 60 million Americans, they live in an area that is vulnerable to one of the greatest forces of mother nature, the hurricane.
30 HURACAN
The word hurricane is derived from the Mayan god “Huracan". Huracan was the Mayans’ deity of wind, storms, and fire, and believed also to be from the Carib Indian god of evil, called “Huricán." The word hurricane also arose from the Taino Indian word “Juracán,” which simply means hurricane in the Taíno language, a language which disappeared after Spanish conquistadors colonised and settled the Caribbean and Florida.
55 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS’S FIRST HURRICANE REPORT
In 1495 Christopher Colombus made what is considered the first official hurricane report after his encounter with a beastly storm near Hispaniola. Columbus declared later that nothing but the service of god and extension of the monarchy would induce him to face another hurricane. Throughout the centuries there have been tales of hurricanes and superstitions surrounding this destructive natural event.
1:20 HURRICANE SUPERSTITIONS
One of the most popular superstitions falls on St. Elmo’s, a spectacle of small balls of fire on the tips of yard arms and spars when the air is heavily charged with static electricity fire. Many sailors believe that when St. Elmo’s Fire appears, is a hurricane warning from Mother Nature.
Many of the other preliminary signs of an impending storm came from animals. Before a hurricane hits coastal regions, dogs, cats and horses become restless and if not confined will run away. If a cow carries its tail upright, it could also be a sign of a coming hurricane. When sparrows hide under hedges or roof ledges, it is also indicative of a a hurricane. And my personal favourite as a Floridian is that when an alligator opens his jaws with an extra-long bellow, a hurricane is imminent.
Some superstitions are regarding safety during storms, one of the more odd ones being to carry a red onion in your pocket during hurricane season and you will survive any bad storm.
Another safety trick?
If you see a water spout in the ocean, wave a butcher knife back and forth and the spout will break up and no storm will occur.
But further than wives tales and overarching superstition, many locales have beliefs of their own. And one of these is the story of the hurricane lady.
3:30 LATEST HURRICANES
4:00 A FORCE MUJER
In the late 1700s a cargo ship set sail from Spain, en route to St. Augustine to bring supplies to the Spanish colony settled there. At this point, St. Augustine had been a settlement for over 150 years, and the voyage from Spain to Florida was a common one.
Much of the local St. Augustine population were and still are Menorcan decendants. Menorca is a small Island off the coast of Spain in the meddeterannean, and many of it’s residents in the 16 to 1800s settled in New Smyrna and St. Augustine.
Life at sea 300 years ago was anything but smooth sailing, and this voyage was no exception.
Not far off the coast of Florida, the sailors ran into a massive storm. It’s unknown if this storm was indeed a hurricane or not, but the probability is likely.
There are records of a hurricane off the coast of St. Augustine in 1769, and again in 1777, where there are records of a sunken ship. Another storm hit northeast Florida in 1794 and then one two years later. As the storm hit, the captain saw their imminent fate if they did not lighten the load.
He instructed his crew to ditch anything over the side that was not bolted down, and to prepare for the worst.
5:30 THE SHIP FACES A STORM
As crew members ran about, frantically trying to save themselves and the ship, everything went over board. But as one crew member went below, he began handing things over to his shipmates. As he did someone ticked the manifest so as not to be though as thieves by the crown.
But then the sailor came across a box he hadn’t remembered loading.
6:00 LIGHTEN THE LOAD
6:20 THE UNKNOWN BOX
4:40 THE UNKNOWN SAINT
The woman had a crown, or halo of lightening bolts around her head, and a little flower. In her hands she held a small dagger.
Frantically, they searched through the manifest searching for any sign of the statue coming on board. No record existed.
None of the men remembered brining the crate on board. There was no tag stating it’s destination or where it originated from.
7:13 PRAYING FOR SAFETY
The crew, being extremely superstitious and more or less Spanish catholics, took it as a sign. The crew got down on their knees and prayed to a nameless saint.
They prayed for their lives, the ship and the promise of returning to land. The captain promised the nameless saint if she delivered their ship safely to shore, he would deliver her to the first Christian family he met.
As the crew prayed, the storm subsided.
7:45 THE STORM SUBSIDES
They made it to land, empty handed but for the small statue and it’s crate, a statue they had now dubbed, the hurricane lady. Keeping his promise, the captain and crew passed the hurricane lady to a small minorcan family.
She stayed within the family for generations until eventually she ended up in the hands of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a local convent associated with the diocese of St. Augustine and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
And you can still see the hurricane lady to this day. She might look a little different, she no longer holds her dagger, but she sits in the O’Reilly museum, at the end of Aviles street within the old city walls.
7:45 THE HURRICANE LADY
8:00 VISITING THE HURRICANE LADY
8:42 SEAFARING CULTURE SUPERSTITIONS
9:21 HURRICANE LADY ORIGINS
Some think the hurricane lady originated from an old legend about Santa Barbara, a peasant farm girl who was attacked by pirates.
As Barbara worked in the field pirates came running after her. So she stomped in the middle of the field and a storm came up and the clouds encircled her. Just over her was a mini storm, when lighting started firing down. The lightning strikes kept coming down which scared the pirates off .
While this story is hard to validate in the minorcan folklore, there are stories of a similar occurrence. When Saint Barbara’s pagan father, named Dioscorus, discovered she was a Christian, he took her to the emperor and beheaded her. But on his return home, Dioscorus was struck down by lightening and his body entirely incinerated.
We may never know who the hurricane lady truly is. Some say she is yet another depiction of the virgin mary, and there are countless other theories.
But the general consensus among locals is this, since the hurricane lady has been in St. Augustine, the small town has been spared any direct hits from storms.
10:40 SUPERSTIATION SAFE
It seems that this little seaside town will keep it’s superstition just a little bit longer. Just to be safe.
