1947 Project Cirrus Hurricane

1947 Project Cirrus Hurricane

The 1947 Cape Sable hurricane, sometimes known informally as Hurricane King, was a weak tropical cyclone that became a hurricane and caused catastrophic flooding in South Florida and the Everglades in mid-October 1947. The eighth tropical storm and fourth hurricane of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season, it first developed on October 9 in the southern Caribbean Sea and hence moved north by west until a few days later it struck western Cuba. The cyclone then turned sharply to the northeast, accelerated, and strengthened to a hurricane, within 30 hours crossing the southern Florida peninsula. Across South Florida, the storm produced widespread rainfall up to 15 inches (380 mm) and severe flooding, among the worst ever recorded in the area, that led to efforts by the United States Congress to improve drainage in the region.

Once over the Atlantic Ocean on October 13, the storm made history when it was the first to be targeted for modification by government and private agencies; dry ice was spread by airplanes throughout the storm in an unsuccessful effort to weaken the hurricane, though changes in the track were initially blamed upon the experiment. On the same day as that of the seeding, the cyclone slowed dramatically and turned westward, making landfall on the morning of October 15 south of Savannah, Georgia. Across the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, the small hurricane produced tides up to 12 feet (3.7 m) and significant damage to 1,500 structures, but the death toll was limited to one person. The system dissipated the next day over Alabama, after causing $3.26 million in losses along its path.