Then comes the
indescribable tempest, dealing destruction, impressing the imagination
with the wild exhibition of the forces of nature, the flashes of
lightning, the torrents of rain, the cold air, all the elements in an
uproar, which indicate the close approach of the center. In the midst
of this turmoil there is a sudden pause, the winds almost cease, the
sky clears, the waves, however, rage in great turbulence. This is the
eye of the storm, the core of the vortex, and it is, perhaps, 20 miles
in diameter, or one-thirtieth of the whole hurricane. The respite is
brief, and is soon followed by the abrupt renewal of the violent wind
and rain, but now coming from the opposite direction, and the storm
passes off with the several features following each other in the
reverse order." [87]
The distribution over the months of the year of the 355 West Indian
hurricanes which occurred during the four hundred and six years
elapsed since the discovery, to the last on the list, is as follows:
Months. No of hurricanes.
January 5
February 7
March 11
April 6
May 5
June 10
July 42
August 96
September 80
October 69
November 17
December 7
355
Puerto Rico has been devastated by hurricanes more than 20 times since
its occupation by the Spaniards.
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