125 years later, the Galveston hurricane is still the deadliest U.S. storm. Most residents didn't know the storm was coming when it levelled most of the city, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people. Destruction was nearly complete, with thousands of the city's wooden homes reduced to rubble by a 15-foot storm surge, twice as high as the city's elevation above sea-level. The town anemometer was destroyed by the winds after measuring 100 mph, but modern estimates put the hurricane's strength as a Category 4 storm.
The city was among the wealthiest in the nation, thanks to its successful shipping industry and financial enterprises. Despite reports of an approaching storm, the residents were not significantly concerned until later on September 8th.
As a result, almost no one evacuated as the hurricane approached. The aftermath included a debris line stretching several miles along the beach, filled with bodies, buildings, and other wreckage.
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Interesting note about the hurricane. Some years before the hurricane struck Galveston, there was a big fire that destroyed much of the city. It spread because burning embers caught the wood shingles of nearby buildings on fire. One building that survived was the Bishop's Palace because it had a slate tile roof. Seeing that, many residents and businesses used slate tile roofs when they rebuilt. When the hurricane hit, those tiles became deadly missiles, decapitating and otherwise killing people.
ReplyDeleteFlorida was the pineapple capital of the world in the 1880s and 90s. Then it got too cold so they switched to citrus. Then it got too cold for citrus in the mid 1970s, freezing groves from the FL-GA state line all the way down to Orlando. And groves are still freezing every year south of the Orlando/I-4 corridor every year. The once world famous (for a reason) Indian River groves are pretty much gone.
ReplyDeleteIt's told that within the huge heaps of debris living people could be heard moaning and crying for help. But with so little left in the way of tools, horses, or line in the area, people could only tug at the wood, trees, brush and other junk trying, but often failing, to rescue those who survived the event, but died in the aftermath. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother watched her parents washed away in the Galveston storm when she was 4 years old. They pushed her and her younger brother up in a tree and the children watched their parents wash away. She and her brother were spilt up during adoption. The story has been passed down for four generations, but I expect it to stop cold. She and my mother were profoundly impacted by the experience. I took it as a lesson in awareness, preparedness and responsibility to act on your own. My kids had some sympathy for my mother, but they are completely disconnected from it and could care less about the stories. We are not the same.
ReplyDeleteLast year’s Kerrville Texas floods are a reminder of lessons unlearned. What the Cajun Navy did and does is admirable.
Tom
Our society does not value history & generally someone can make a buck off of that fact.
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