Community Chat

[Kachina624]

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@Cakers3 wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Ever heard about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane?  All others pale by comparison.  They later raised the entire city by 17ft and built a seawall. 

The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h), which made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, in the United States, leaving about 6,000 to 12,000 dead. It remains to the present day the deadliest natural disaster in US history.

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@Kachina624  Yes but the geography of the area and the lack of coordination between the national weather service and the local authorities contributed greatly to the devastation in Galveston.  If the past century of learning had been applied in 1900, it may not have been as devastating as it had been.

We went to Galveston a few years ago; I can tell you sitting on the beach there was a sense of that tragedy all around-almost as if the energy of those lost was still there.  I've heard this before from other people.  Or maybe it's just knowing what had happened influences ones perception.

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@Cakers3   I've sat on or near the beach in Galveston many times and never felt anything except disgust for the filthy water there.  I can't imagine swimming in it.

Most of the houses destroyed during the 1900 storm appear in old pictures to have been very flimsy wood frame buildings.  We've also improved building techniques.  I'm sure they had no warning the storm was coming. 

Funny but Harvey seems to be primarily a rain event.  I haven't seen the usual hurricane force winds.  Haven't heard anything about a storm surge. 

[Drythe]

@Kachina624

The weather agency, which was very young, was  reporting that the hurricane was going to hit Florida up till the morning of landfall.

There was a great deal of development going on at that time, to make building easier the sand dunes had been scraped flat.  So they offered no protection.  Many people were killed by the floating construction debris.

By the time the reports changed from landfall in Florida to Texas the railroad tracks were already washed out.  The bridges collapsed shortly thereafter.  

The only means of communication was via telegraph, which was out.  Thus it was the next day before people knew rescue was needed.

Yes, awful the number of lost lives, but the many of the causes were man made.

[Kachina624]

@Drythe  I ran across a documenty film on the Galveston Hurricane today.  One thing I'd never heard... several years before, they had a big fire there which city father felt was fueled by all the wood shingle roofs.  They passed an ordinance that all roofs had to be slate shingles.

In the hurricane winds, these things blew off and became lethal weapons.  Sort of like being hit by a frizbee going 150mph.

[RainCityWoman]

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@jaxs mom wrote:

Well that didn't take long. 

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Mea culpa.  My righteous indignation got the best of me. Do you want me to delete?