 But, weeks later, the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559, which killed an unknown number of sailors, sank six ships, grounded a seventh, and ruined supplies.The survivors struggled to survive, most moving inland to central Alabama for several months in 1560 before returning to the coast, but after two years, the effort was abandoned in 1561.Some of the survivors eventually sailed to Santa Elena (today's Parris Island, South Carolina), but another storm hit there.