1839 Coringa cyclone
- When
- 1839
- Where
- Coringa, India
- Episodes
- 3
On 25 November 1839, a tropical cyclone struck Coringa, destroying the harbour and generating a 40-foot storm surge. The disaster killed an estimated 300,000 people, making it the second-deadliest storm worldwide. The event was observed by ships starting 24 November, with weather clearing on 26 November.
Episodes
- Weather Observation
Ships observed a rainy pattern on 24 November, and stormy weather stopped on 26 November.
- Cyclone Landfall
The tropical cyclone struck Coringa on 25 November 1839, generating a 40-foot storm surge that destroyed the harbour and area.
- Casualty Estimate
The cyclone killed an estimated 300,000 people, making it the second-deadliest storm worldwide.
Background and detail
Background. The 1839 Coringa cyclone, also known as the 1839 India or Andhra Pradesh cyclone, devastated the port city of Coringa in present-day Andhra Pradesh. It generated a massive 40-foot storm surge that completely destroyed the area. The damage was significantly worse than the 1789 storm that had previously affected the region.
Impact. The cyclone killed over 300,000 people, both inland and at sea, ranking it as the second-deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide after the 1970 Bhola cyclone. The storm surge caused widespread damage, wiping out the port city and its harbour.
Terminology. Henry Piddington, an official of the British East India Company, coined the term 'cyclone' in his reports for the first time. He observed the swath of destruction made by both the 1789 and 1839 storms, establishing the terminology for these weather events.
Sources
- 1839 Coringa cyclone Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-09
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.