Galveston Hurricane Analysis

On Friday evening, September 7, 1900, many of the 37,000 residents of Galveston, Texas, were settling down to dinner, few if any of them concerned about the steady 15 mph northerly wind rattling their windows. Within 48 hours, at least 8,000 of the townspeople would be dead, victims of the single worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Relatively few people are aware that the deadliest natural disaster in the United States was the hurricane that struck Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. One of the best resources that can be found to help fully understand the significance of this storm is Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson.

The 1900 Hurricane in Galveston destroyed a majority of the towns infrastructure and killed a significant amount of the population. One of the main reasons behind the level of devastation was do to the fact that the city was not at all prepared to face a storm as large as the one that hit in 1900, the city had a very low elevation with its highest point being only 9 feet above the sea level, and had very little if any means of protection from Hurricanes(1.). By 1900 Galveston had already been hit with several destructive storms in the past but they were not severe enough for the citizens of Galveston to start making more efforts to curb the potential damage a larger storm could have in the future and thus do to something on a

In many ways people’s overconfidence was very costly for Galvestonians due to the fact that lack of attention, over confidence and hypocrisy from their authorities as well as the narrator himself weren’t taking seriously the warnings from the Cuban authorities as the book Isaac’s Storm suggests in page 19-20 “The bureau’s men in Cuba said the storm was nothing to worry about; Cuba’s own weather observers, who had pioneered hurricane detection disagreed.” And also the narrator himself got warned by his brother on how the wind has been irregularly high as it points out in page 19-21”It was capable of measuring velocities as high as one hundred miles an hour, but conditions had never come close to testing capacity, nor did any rational soul believe

“Human bodies bobbed facedown in the water, bumping against the boat” (“Anderson vii”). By September 7, 1900, Galveston was the 4th largest city in Texas (“Galveston”). It was a growing and flourishing port city of 37,000 (resources); and one of the wealthiest cities in the country (“Galveston”). On September 8, 1900 a powerful hurricane slammed into Galveston (“Galveston”). Its’ highest wind speed recorded before the anemometer blew away was 100 mph, but the speeds were estimated as high as 135 mph (“Galveston”). Over 3,600 buildings were destroyed in the hurricane causing 30,000 people to be homeless (“Galveston”). A 15-foot storm surge engulfed the entire island leaving the highest point of the island just over 8 feet above sea level (“Galveston”). Evacuation was almost impossible (“Galveston”). At first their estimation of

In the turn of the new century, the people of Galveston were faced with a grim reminder. The event that destroyed the small island of Galveston, the Galveston Hurricane, had many social, political, and economic impacts that made this storm life-changing. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 improved Texas for the better and helped Galveston grow stronger as a city.

At the hurricane's first landfall near the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, little information was documented on the storm's impacts.[3] However, as the storm approached the Texas coast, widespread evacuations took place, including the evacuation of roughly 50,000 people from Galveston alone. Upon making landfall, the hurricane caused extensive damage in coastal regions. In Matagorda, storm surge

On September 10th a message was sent out to Governor Joseph D. Sayers and President William McKinley saying, “I have never been deputized by the mayor and Citizen’s Committee of Galveston to inform you that the city of Galveston is in ruins.” It took a long time to finally get the word out of the hurricane because the damage was so bad and all telegraph lines and bridges to the mainland were down.

Galveston was the leading port in the state of Texas and had a population of about 37,000 people during the 1900. Being a city on the gulf coast, getting hit by a hurricane was expected. Galveston has been hit with many hurricanes before but one particular hurricane almost wiped out the whole city. On September 8th, 1900, a potent hurricane producing wind up to 120 miles per hour and flooded the city with about 15 feet of water made landfall. The aftermath of the hurricane was horrific, it broke the city down to rubbles and a few thousands of people lost their lives. The city had a choice of either being wiped off the map from the hurricane’s damage or to start the rebuild process as soon as possible. Galveston chose to unite as one and

The people who stayed in Galveston after the storm were a great representation of the uncompromising people in that time period. These were the same people who believed they had mastery and/or control over Mother Nature. Prior to the Hurricane, community leaders and citizens believed the words of Isaac Cline, that Galveston was invincible to any storm that came through the area. Cline believed that with the shallow waters surrounding the city, there was no way a storm could cause any major damage to the

Galveston which is located on Galveston Island is a twenty-nine mile strip of land estimated about two miles off the coast of Texas. With the miles of beaches and nice weather it was a popular resort and seemed to be headed in the direction to become the New York City of the Gulf Coast. It had also become a commercial port which was thriving. On September 8th, 1900 this changed. Many vacationers on this day did not pay attention to the warnings let out by the United States Weather Bureau to get to higher ground. Little did they know a category four hurricane was about to strike the city becoming the nation’s deadliest natural disaster still to this day. About six to eight thousand people lost their lives out of about thirty-six thousand total on the island. (about 20%) In comparison these deaths were greater than the combined of the Johnstown Flood and San Francisco Earthquake.

Not only was was the grade of the entire city raised, but a 50 ft. seawall was built to protect it. Within a decade, five hundred city blocks had been raised with sand from the Galveston ship channel. These new improvements later proved to be up to standard in 1915 when a Category three hurricane made landfall in Galveston. This Hurricane had winds up to 193 mph, making it a repeat of the Hurricane of 1900, although with new city improvements, it passed without devastation. But what effects did this hurricane have on the residents in 1900, and today's current residents?

You wake up this morning get out bed trying to decide what to wear today. You check the weather app on your phone and see that it will be sunny and warm outside with zero chance of rain. You throw on your flip flops and shorts and head outside to begin your day. Weather can be quite predictable in this day and age. High tech technology and decades of weather knowledge have allowed us to predict the weather with great accuracy, but it was not always this way. Isaac Cline, a meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to understand what was happening in Galveston before it was too late. On September 8, 1900, no one was ready for what was about to happen to this prosperous port city. A monster hurricane swept in and destroyed the city killing

The hurricane appears to have started as an atmospheric trough from West Africa, causing unsettled weather in the Caribbean, and emerging into the Florida Straits as a tropical storm on September 5. Owing to contradictory forecasts, the people of Galveston felt no alarm until the official hurricane warning of September 7. Next morning a storm surge of 15 ft (4.6 m) washed over the long, flat island-city which was only 8 ft (2.4 m) above sea level, knocking

Our natural hazard is a hurricane. They can go up to 70 to 200 miles per hour wind speed. Each hurricane lasts up to about a week. They are huge storms that run on water. They are able producing to about 200 times of the world's electricity. Hurricane winds can rip off roofs, blow out windows and flatten buildings. and they’re notorious for making deadly weapons out of random debris. Hurricanes can also make tornadoes, which have even stronger winds. They create sink holes. There have been many hurricanes some worse than others. One of the worst hurricanes to ever occur was Hurricane Galveston.

Although the city of Galveston doing a lot of work to be tourism friendly town, the total likelihood of going on an island decreases with each year because of oil spillages and nature pollution caused in the last few decades.