 The 1806 Great Coastal hurricane was a severe and damaging storm along the East Coast of the United States which produced upwards of 36 in ( 91 cm ) of rainfall in parts of Massachusetts . First observed east of the Lesser Antilles on 17 August , the hurricane arrived at the Bahamas by 19 August . The disturbance continued to drift northward and made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina on 22 August . The storm soon moved out to sea as a Category 2 @-@ equivalent hurricane on the Saffir – Simpson hurricane wind scale , <unk> off of New England before dissipating south of Nova Scotia on 25 August as a markedly weaker storm . Several French and British military ships were damaged out at sea . In the Carolinas , salt , sugar , rice , and lumber industries suffered considerably , and several individuals were killed . <unk> and vessels endured moderate damage , with many ships wrecked on North <unk> barrier islands . A majority of the deaths caused by the hurricane occurred aboard the Rose @-@ in @-@ Bloom offshore of <unk> Inlet , New Jersey , with 21 of the ship 's 48 passengers killed and $ 171 @,@ 000 ( 1806 USD ) in damage to its cargo . Upon arriving in New England , reports indicated extreme rainfall , though no deaths were reported ; in all , the hurricane killed more than 24 individuals along the entirety of its track . 
