3-011-588 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Effects of the cyclone at Calcutta, 1864. Engraving from a photograph taken on the spot by Mr. Wagentreiber '...of the terrible havoc caused by the cyclone or revolving hurricane of Oct. 5 among the crowded shipping in the River Hooghly, at the port of Calcutta...The particulars of the disaster were so fully related in our former account that it is needless to repeat the description...It may be added that, from a report to the Meteorological Society of Calcutta, it appears that the pressure of the wind at one moment during this storm amounted to as much as thirty-two pounds on the square inch. Some notion of its comparative force may be obtained, if this estimate be correct, from the records of the most violent gales experienced of late years in our own country [ie England], as the maximum pressure then attained was forty-three pounds to the square foot'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.