User:12george1/Effects of the 1900 Galveston hurricane in Texas

The Effects of the 1900 Galveston hurricane included at least 6,000 fatalities in the state, placing this storm as the deadliest natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Impact

“ First news from Galveston just received by train that could get no closer to the bay shore than 6 mi (9.7 km) where the prairie was strewn with debris and dead bodies. About 200 corpses counted from the train. Large steamship stranded 2 mi (3.2 km) inland. Nothing could be seen of Galveston. Loss of life and property undoubtedly most appalling. Weather clear and bright here with gentle southeast wind. ” — G.L. Vaughan
Manager, Western Union, Houston,
in a telegram to the Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau on the day after the hurricane, September 9, 1900

At the time of the 1900 hurricane, the highest point in the city of Galveston was only 8.7 ft (2.7 m) above sea level. The hurricane brought with it a storm surge of over 15 ft (4.6 m) that washed over the entire island. Storm surge and tides began flooding the city by the early morning hours of September 8. Water rose steadily from 3:00 p.m. CST (2100 UTC) until approximately 7:30 p.m. (0130 UTC September 9), when eyewitness accounts indicated that water rose about 4 ft (1.2 m) in just four seconds. An additional 5 ft (1.5 m) of water had flowed into portions of the city by 8:30 p.m. (0230 UTC September 9). The cyclone dropped 9 in (230 mm) of precipitation in Galveston on September 8, setting a record for the most rainfall for any 24-hour period in the month of September in the city's history.

The highest measured wind speed was 100 mph (160 km/h) just after 6 p.m. on September 8 (0000 UTC September 9), but the Weather Bureau's anemometer was blown off the building shortly after that measurement was recorded. Contemporaneous estimates placed the maximum sustained wind speed 120 mph (190 km/h). However, survivors reported observing bricks, slate, timbers, and other heavy objects becoming airborne, indicating that winds were likely stronger. Later estimates placed the hurricane at the higher Category 4 classification on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The lowest recorded barometric pressure was 28.48 inHg (964.4 hPa), considered at the time to be so low as to be obviously in error. Modern estimates later placed the storm's central pressure at 27.49 inHg (930.9 hPa), but this was subsequently adjusted to the storm's official lowest measured central pressure of 27.63 inHg (935.7 hPa).

Searching for bodies in Galveston in the aftermath of the storm of 1900. At the time this film was shot, the stench of hundreds of bodies could be smelled for miles. One body was discovered (but not filmed) while the camera crew was present.

Few streets in the city escaped wind damage and all streets suffered water damage, with much of the destruction caused by storm surge. All bridges connecting the island to the mainland were washed away, while approximately 15 mi (24 km) of railroad track was destroyed. Winds and storm surge also downed electrical, telegraph, and telephone wires. The surge swept buildings off their foundations and dismantled them. Many buildings and homes destroyed other structures after being pushed into them by the waves, which even demolished structures built to withstand hurricanes. Every home in Galveston suffered damage, with 3,636 homes destroyed. Approximately 10,000 people in the city were left homeless, out of a total population of nearly 38,000. The Tremont Hotel, where hundreds of people sought refuge during the storm, was severely damaged. All public buildings also suffered damage, including city hall – which was completely deroofed – a hospital, a city gas works, a city water works, and the custom house. The Grand Opera House also sustained extensive damage, but was quickly rebuilt.

Three schools and St. Mary's University were nearly destroyed. Many places of worship in the city also received severe damage or were completely demolished. Of the 39 churches in Galveston, 25 experienced complete destructed, while the others received some degree of damage. During the storm, the St. Mary's Orphans Asylum, owned by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, was occupied by 93 children and 10 sisters. As tides began approaching the property, the sisters moved the children into the girl's dorm, as it was newer and sturdier. Realizing they were under threat, the sisters had the children repeatedly sing Queen of the Waves to calm them. As the collapse of the building appeared imminent, the sisters used a clothes line to tie themselves to six to eight children. The building eventually collapsed. Only three of children and none of the sisters survived. The storm destroyed about 7,000 buildings of all uses in Galveston alone, which included businesses, churches, convents, hotels, and houses. The few buildings that survived, mostly solidly built mansions and houses along the Strand District, are today maintained as tourist attractions.

Map illustrating the devastation in Galveston

Early property damage estimates were placed at $25 million. However, itemized estimates from 1901 based on assessments conducted by the Galveston News, the Galveston chamber of commerce, a relief committee, and multiple insurance companies indicated that the storm caused just over $17 million in damage throughout Galveston, including about $8.44 million to residential properties, $500,000 to churches, $656,000 to wharves and shipping properties, $580,000 to manufacturing plants, $397,000 to mercantile buildings, $1.4 million to store merchandise, $670,000 to railroads and telegraph and telephone services, $416,000 to products in shipment, $336,000 to municipality properties, $243,000 to county properties, and $3.16 million to United States government properties. The total also included $115,000 in damage to schools and approximately $100,000 in damage to roads.

The area of destruction – an area in which nothing remained standing after the storm – was approximately 1,900 acres (770 ha) of land and was arc-shaped, with complete demolition of structures in the west, south, and eastern portions of the city, while the north-central section of the city suffered the least amount of damage. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, a 3 mi (4.8 km) long, 30 ft (9.1 m) wall of debris was situated in the middle of the island. As severe as the damage to the city's buildings was, the death toll was even greater. Because of the destruction of the bridges to the mainland and the telegraph lines, no word of the city's destruction was able to reach the mainland. At 11 a.m. (1700 UTC) on September 9, one of the few ships at the Galveston wharfs to survive the storm, the Pherabe, arrived in Texas City on the western side of Galveston Bay. It carried six messengers from the city. When they reached the telegraph office in Houston at 3 a.m. on September 10, a short message was sent to Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers and U.S. President William McKinley: "I have been deputized by the mayor and Citizen's Committee of Galveston to inform you that the city of Galveston is in ruins." The messengers reported an estimated five hundred dead; this was initially considered to be an exaggeration.

Many who died had their corpses piled onto carts for burial at sea.

The citizens of Houston knew a powerful storm had blown through and had prepared to provide assistance. Workers set out by rail and ship for the island almost immediately. Rescuers arrived to find the city completely destroyed. It is believed 8,000 people—20% of the island's population—had lost their lives. Estimates range from 6,000 to 12,000. Most had drowned or been crushed as the waves pounded the debris that had been their homes hours earlier. A number of fatalities also occurred after strong winds turned debris into projectiles. Many survived the storm itself but died after several days being trapped under the wreckage of the city, with rescuers unable to reach them. The rescuers could hear the screams of the survivors as they walked on the debris trying to rescue those they could.

The dead bodies were so numerous that burying all of them was impossible. The dead were initially weighted down on barges and dumped at sea, but when the gulf currents washed many of the bodies back onto the beach, a new solution was needed. Funeral pyres were set up on the beaches, or wherever dead bodies were found, and burned day and night for several weeks after the storm. The authorities passed out free whiskey to sustain the distraught men conscripted for the gruesome work of collecting and burning the dead. More people were killed in this single storm than the total of those killed in at least the next two deadliest tropical cyclones that have struck the United States since. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Aftermath

To commemorate the hurricane's 100th anniversary in 2000, the 1900 Storm Committee was established and began meeting in January 1998. The committee and then-Mayor of Galveston, Roger Quiroga, planned several public events in remembrance of the storm, including theatrical plays, an educational fundraising luncheon, a candlelight memorial service, a 5K run, the rededication of a commemorative Clara Barton plaque, and the dedication of the Place of Remembrance Monument. At the dedication of the Place of Remembrance Monument, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word sang Queen of the Waves and 10 roses and 90 others were placed around the monument to commemorate the 90 nuns and 10 children who perished after the hurricane destroyed the St. Mary's Orphans Asylum. Speakers at the candlelight memorial service included U. S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who was born in Galveston; Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration D. James Baker; and CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who gained fame for his coverage during Hurricane Carla in 1961. The Daily News published a special 100th anniversary commemorative edition newspaper on September 3, 2000.