Coringa Cyclone, 1839

About

The Coringa Cyclone of 1839 was a devastating natural disaster that struck the port city of Coringa in Andhra Pradesh, India, on November 25, 1839. This cyclone is estimated to have caused around 300,000 deaths, making it one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in history. The storm surge reached an astonishing 40 feet, completely destroying the harbor and approximately 20,000 vessels. Coringa had previously experienced a severe cyclone in 1789, which killed about 20,000 people, but the city had managed to recover. The impact of the 1839 cyclone was so severe that Coringa never recovered economically. The city was not rebuilt, and survivors chose to settle inland. The disaster led to significant changes in how coastal communities were established, with homes being built further from the coast to mitigate future damage. Henry Piddington, a British East India Company official, studied this and other cyclones, coining the term "cyclone" to describe the circular wind patterns of such storms. Today, Coringa is a small village, a stark contrast to its former status as a bustling port city.