Flood of 1826

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1826

Between 6 and 9 November 1826, the Canary Islands archipelago suffered the impact of one of the most destructive storms on record. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, like the rest of the islands, endured the effects of what appears to have been a huge tropical cyclone that caused numerous damages. In the city alone, 311 houses were destroyed and 1,009 were ruined. The ravines of Igueste, San Andrés, Bufadero, Valleseco, Tahodio and Santos, along with others of lesser length, flowed with an enormous amount of water that swept away everything in its path: trees, animals, houses, with flooded and ruined lands. In the city there were no personal tragedies to lament, but the economic losses were considerable, estimated at 1,860,662 maravedís.

Two ships on the America route were lost in the port along with others anchored in the Santa Cruz bay that were pushed by the force of the sea and wind towards the coast, becoming stranded.

There were indeed fatalities at sea. On one hand, the pilot and two sailors of the brigantine Potomak , of American flag, who were seeking the port of Santa Cruz, disappeared. On the other, the schooner San Antonio , registered in Tenerife, which had set sail for La Palma with six crew members on board, was lost forever.

This storm of wind and water struck the La Orotava valley with great virulence, as well as other localities in northern Tenerife and Gran Canaria. According to chronicles, nearly three hundred people lost their lives in those areas, hundreds of animals, and losses amounted to 350,000 pounds sterling of the time. More than 600 private houses were destroyed on the island of Tenerife alone. Added to this were the damages caused to the islands’ forests, agriculture, with soil losses that may have exceeded 30% in some areas, and to livestock of all kinds.

The November 1826 storm has undoubtedly been one of the worst meteorological events in the history of the Archipelago. It should be noted that one of the most deeply felt losses was the disappearance of the original carving of the Virgin of Candelaria, Patroness of the Canary Islands, of incalculable historical and symbolic value, which was kept in her Dominican convent in the town of Candelaria, destroyed by the blows of a raging sea.

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