Anthony W. Dimock fly fishing, hurricane clouds above, Gasparilla, Florida, 1906.

The photographer of this image, Julian A. Dimock, captured his father fishing on the beach while a storm is visible in the distance.

Lightning striking the Washington Monument, Washington D.C., date unknown.

Though this image was copied in 1949, the event was earlier. Nature's fury has struck the Monument more recently, as well - an earthquake in the nation's capital in the summer of 2011 caused significant damage to the iconic building.

Old chimney, relic of 1898 hurricane, Hilton Head, South Carolina, 1904.

In August of 1898, Hilton Head suffered a hurricane, one of five, and one of 11 major storms that hit the region during the 1898 Atlantic hurricane season. Photographer Julian A. Dimock took this picture in 1904 during his travels through the South Atlantic region of the United States. He donated his collection of glass negatives to the AMNH in 1920.

Bisbee, Arizona after the flood of 1890.

These three Bisbee images are all part of the Carl Lumholtz Collection, and show some of the damage Bisbee sustained as a result of flood waters in 1890.

Street in Bisbee, Arizona after the flood of 1890.

The copper mines in Bisbee, Arizona suffered many disasters, yet despite numerous floods over many years and a devestating fire in 1906, mining continued until the 1970s.

Copper Queen Smelting Works after the flood of 1890, Bisbee, Arizona.

Another example from the Carl Lumholtz Collection, this image shows the damage caused by flooding in the Copper Queen mines. A person is visible towards the right center of the image, offering some scale and perspective among the rocks.

Cumulonimbus clouds, family D1, Paris, August, 1948.

Clouds in the D family are vertically developed; clouds like those in the image above showing the skies over the city of Paris, often produce severe weather such as heavy rain and lightning.

Havoc wrought by storms of 1913-14, Sea Bright, New Jersey.

The Jersey Shore suffered not one, but three significant hurricanes between December 1913 and January 1914.  Homes were washed into the sea and 13 people lost their lives. Popular Science Monthly of 1915 reported that during the second of these storms the ocean flooded into the streets and wind velocity reached 120 miles per hour.

Storm surge and flooding, Sea Bright, New Jersey, January 4, 1914.

This 1914 image documenting the devestation sustained by the Jersey Shore from a severe hurricane, shows a man standing to the left watching the ocean. The second and third storms that season were more damaging than the first because the first left the coastline already damaged and unprotected.

The images on this page show the arrival and aftermath of hurricanes and large storms. Floods, destruction, and ominous skies are shown in these photographs, a selection of images from the Library's Carl Lumholtz Collection documenting the Lumholtz Expedition through Arizona, the Julian Dimock Collection with images from Florida and South Carolina, and from the general Photographic Collection with documentation from storms in Washington D.C. and Paris, France, and at the Jersey Shore in the nineteen teens.  More information about each of these important historic image collections can be found in Digital Special Collections.

To enlarge this or any image, and to see the accompanying information, simply click on an image or its title.