On August 23, 1724 and event known as the "Great Gust of 1724" occurred. Almost all tobacco and much of the corn crops were destroyed by this violent tropical storm, which struck the Chesapeake Bay. Intense floods of rain and a huge gust of wind were seen on the James River. Just as those as recovery was underway to salvage what crops they could a week later another tropical system inundated the region with more heavy rain and flooding leading to an almost total failure of the corn crop and the suspension of the export of corn from the region for the next 12 months.

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