It was just over 104 years ago that the “single worst natural disaster in U.S. history” hit Galveston, TX. Something we should never forget.
The hurricane that slammed into the barrier island claimed at least 8,000 people – nobody knows an accurate tally. There was no Jim Cantori standing around watching people board up their houses, nobody knew it was coming. And there wasn’t a Home Depot to help you board up your house, no satellite pictures, no endless guesses of “where will it make landfall?”
The townspeople watched the waves hitting the shore, then watched as the winds picked up. When water began flooding some homes, people headed to high ground – the highest was about nine feet above sea level. A ship broke free and smashed the three bridges that linked Galveston to the rest of Texas, and safety. So the residents had no choice but ride it out.
As the wind shifted around to the east, it brought with it a storm surge that effectively swallowed the island, Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico became one. Max winds are estimated to be around 125 mph, but there is no official record (the anenometer broke at 102). The rising water consumed houses and the people in them. An orphanage lost 90 children, washed out to sea after the nuns desperately tried to save them by tying them together in groups.
Here’s all that was left:
