Introduction to Galveston Flood of 1900
Floods in the State of Texas Since 1990
Introduction to Galveston Flood of 1900
Floods in the State of Texas Since 1990
The Hurricane that plowed through Galveston Island on September 8, 1900 submerged the "Jewel of Texas" beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Galveston, Texas was the proud home of Texas' first post office, telephones, and medical college. The island-city and port, known as the "Wall Street of the Southwest" was responsible for the export and trade of cotton for most of the southwestern United States. Galveston was a city on its way up. The population was 37,789 and steadily growing, huge mansions filled the town, accompanied by fine churches and prestigious schools overlooking the calm Gulf of Mexico.
The storm that was to change the history of this promising city had its beginnings some 4,000 miles away in the Atlantic, west of the Cape Verdes Islands. The inhabitants of Galveston knew that the storm was headed their way but a false sense of safety, instilled by geographers, kept them from evacuating to the mainland. Geographers believed that the gentle slope of the sea bottom would keep the island fairly safe from the wrath of tropical storms. Less than half of the island's inhabitants evacuated the island. Not only were there Gavestonians still on the island, but sightseers from a neighboring city, Houston, had come to watch the marvelous storm.
The long, narrow island of Galveston runs parallel to the Coat of Texas and is separated from the mainland by Galveston Bay , a body of water that stretches about two miles wide to fill the gap between the two land masses. Before dawn on September 8 a warning was finally given urging people to flee the island. Unfortunately it was too late. The rough waters had caused a steamship to break free from its mooring. The loose ship destroyed many things in its path, including the three bridges to the mainland. The city of Galveston could do nothing but wait for the storm to pass.
The hurricane was moving with winds at a velocity of at least 120 miles per hour and its floodwaters reached 20 feet high. There was not a single building on the island that escaped damage. The estimated number of deaths ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 men, women and children. Six thousand of the survivors were badly injured. 2,636 homes were ripped from their foundations by the raging tides. The poor and the rich alike, sought shelter in any large building they could find, praying that it would be able to withstand the powerful winds and water.
The purpose of this web page is to inform people of the awesome power of the hurricane, to give geological information of the storm that destroyed an entire city, resulting in the largest natural disaster in the United States, note other flooding in Texas and maps.
The 1900 Census put the population of Galveston at 37,789. There were 40 miles of streetcar lines, 2,2028 telephones, and two automobiles in Galveston. The island was between eight and nine feet above sea level at its highest point. Most streets were approximately 4.5 feet above sea level.
The hurricane that hit Galveston Island on September 8, 1900 was the deadliest natural disaster that the United States has ever experienced. The water level rose steadily during the say and by evening people no longer had the option of leaving the island. The hurricane that hit full-force during the night had winds that are estimated to have exceeded 120 miles per hour. (Technology now estimates that the winds were between 130 and 140 miles per hour) A 15.5 foot storm surge pushed across the island from the gulf to the bay. The surge crated a wall of debris that was bout two stories high. This wall of debris combined with the force of the storm surge and the winds mowed down everything in its path. Fortunately, when the surge subsided, the wall of debris helped save the buildings behind it from destruction.
(four block radius of the effects of the hurricane)
Every single person on the island suffered loss of property and family as a result of the hurricane. The acres from 1st Street to 8th, from the beach to the harbor, and from 45th Street west to the end of the city was destroyed. Houses and other buildings were bulldozed flat for up to fifteen blocks from the beach. 8,000 to 10,000 people were left homeless as a result of the storm. The bodies of dead people and animals were buried under the debris and, in the warmth of the city, the smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming. The flood waters unearthed bodies already buried in local cemeteries and these bodies combined with the victims of the storm. The emergency government hauled the bodies to the wharf, loaded them on a barge, and dumped them in the gulf with weights. The tide, however, brought the bodies back to shore. Due to the health risks the bodies were immediately burned. The number of bodies and their condition made identification impossible. When looking at pictures taken after the hurricane, there are no people, trees, no animals, and no sign of any personal items - there is only the debris of buildings and an occasional body.
(the bodies of the victims laying in rows)
(the SS Alamo from the wreck of the Mallory Wharf)
(survivors searching the debris)
To prevent future floods the city decided to build a sea wall. The level of the city was raised. At the wall it was raised sixteen feet and gradually sloped down toward the bay. The grade dropped one foot for every 1500 feet from the beach. All of the buildings were raised on jacks and sand was pumped from the bay to fill in underneath them. Catwalks connected the buildings together. At the time of the hurricane Galveston was a booming city whose shipping rivaled that of New Orleans. The hurricane created a major setback in the growth of this city, but the survivors determination helped them rebuild. It took several years to complete the sea wall and the raising of the island, but at the completion Galveston was back on track.
For more information on the flood of Galveston:
this sight contains pictures, accounts of family legends about the storm, and eyewitness accounts, plus more.
this sight has a list of major natural disasters in the US.
www.mathstat.usouthal.edu/~lynn/hurricanes/galveston.htm
this sight has specifics about the hurricane.
www.rosenberg-library.org/gthc/1900storm.htm
this sight has links to documents relating to the storm.
www.khou.com/hurricane/1900stormspecial.html
khou did a special about the Galveston storm. At this sight you can watch the archive version, the preview, or order the whole special.
Floods Occurring in the State of Texas Since 1990
April 29 - May 5 1990
Despite a below normal rainfall total for the last three months of 1989, the soils over northern Texas were not able to completely store the water from a very wet first third of 1990. Streams were already running high and persistent frontal system across northern Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. In April 1990, storms across this region caused numerous and major flash flooding episodes, and also causing mainstream rivers to rise. Disasters would have been averted had the rains stopped in late April.
December 1991-January 1992
The amount and the short period of time in which the rains fell produced one of the most voluminous floods on record in the state of Texas. Virtually the entire eastern half of Texas experienced significant flooding, with the Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe River Basins being the hardest hit. Several locations along these and numerous other rivers and streams observed record stages or flows, while at least six major reservoirs also set new elevation or storage records. At least 13 deaths were attributed to the flooding, and evacuations numbered in the hundreds. Major economic losses occurred in the agricultural industry as hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland were inundated by floodwaters. Considerable damage was done to roads, bridges, culverts, and similar structures, as well as to several water and sewage treatment plants. Businesses and residences were also affected, bringing the damage estimate to $100 million.
16-23 October 1994
The event began on the evening of 16 October when relatively unorganized convection trained across Burleson, Brazos, Madison, and Houston Counties during the early evening hours. This produced a weak, rain-cooled boundary that was fed by a strong low-level jet, bringing deep tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty-five counties in the Houston area were declared either total or partial disaster areas.
5 May 1995
On the evening of May 5, an isolated severe thunderstorm developed ahead of the southern portion of an intense squall line approaching Fort Worth. The squall line exhibited a large "bow echo" radar signature. As the super cell moved east-northeastward across Fort Worth, softball-sized hail was reported at many locations, with wind gusts over 70 miles per hour (110 km/hr, 30 m/s).
20-22 June 1997
During the afternoon of June 20, a weak upper-level disturbance moved eastward toward the Hill Country of central Texas. As the main band of mid latitude westerlies moved northward out of the region, this disturbance became nearly stationary over the Hill Country in an unstable region with weak winds and high moisture. Showers and thunderstorms developed around this low during the evening of the 20th as warm and moist air at low- and midlevels continued to be drawn into the system. Although the disturbance was of mid latitude origins, it appeared to be of a tropical nature as spiral bands, similar to what is seen in tropical cyclones, were observed. On the 21st, the low moved slowly northward as it intensified, and heavy rains fell again in central Texas. The low weakened and pulled off to the north as a disturbance in the main band of westerlies attracted the low and helped to accelerate it out of the region.
21-25 August 1998
Tropical Storm Charley began as tropical depression on 21 August, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of Brownsville. The storm slowly strengthened into a tropical storm as it moved slowly northeastward toward Corpus Christi. The storm made steady progress northwestward toward Cotulla and the southeastern Hill Country. Very heavy rains falling during the night of the 21st and early morning of the 22nd caused major to catastrophic flooding over the Nueces River tributaries above Uvalde, the same areas which received similar rainfall in a 1997 flood. Charley continued a slow westward track through the night. The rain let up during the day of the 22nd (and the heaviest rainfall developed in the spiral feeder bands) and intensified over the same areas as the night before.
17-23 October 1998
A very moist air mass was in place across eastern Texas on 17 October. A surface cold front was very slowly making its way southeastward across western Texas, while moisture Gulf of Mexico (with dew points in the middle to upper 70s Fahrenheit [low to middle 20s Celsius]) streaming northwestward over the eastern half of Texas. Aloft, moisture from two eastern Pacific hurricanes (Lester and Madeline) were off the southwestern coast of Mexico and pumping large amounts of moisture northeastward over eastern Texas.
Note:
The Galveston Flood of 1900 has been excluded from this study as the flooding which resulted was considered to be a direct effect hurricane. Some of the other floods mentioned are associated with hurricanes or tropical storms, but the flooding in question was a result of such weather, not a direct effect.
(map showing Galveston and the storm swept areas)
The unnamed storm was born as a small plume of warm air off the African coast. As it moved deliberately but inexorably across the ocean it fed on the heat of the summer waters, drinking in energy until it had grown huge with the potential for destruction. On September 7, cables started arriving in the Weather Bureau's Washington headquarters, relaying ships' encounters with the growing storm in an area off Cuba. The storm then crossed Florida and arrived in the Gulf, but instead of meandering in the manner of most Gulf storms, it turned and aimed straight for Galveston. The track allowed its winds to blow unobstructed for hundreds of miles over waters made unusually warm by a particularly tropical summer. The storm added to its vast store of energy and pushed a huge wall of water along its leading edge.
Terra Hudlow is a Houston native. She has been interested in the Galveston Hurricane ever since she was 8 and her Brownie troop went to Galveston. Terra is a senior at Rice University. She will graduate in May with a degree in Psychology and go on to get a Masters in Social Work.
Kale Myles, a native Los Angeleno, is a junior AMC/French/Art History major from the wonderful world O'Wiess. She spends her life in the black hole that is the Brown Fine Arts Library, feeding her caffeine addiction and avoiding rain.
Lynda Yoon, a die hard New Yorker, returns back to the Lone Star State for a reprieve from corporate America. Previously a Rice Owl Volleyball player, she chooses now to live the life of normal Rice student. Known to her friends as Bear, she is in seclusion for most of the winter and comes only out to look for sunshine and food.
Miriam Jackson, a native Texan, from the small town of Hockley northwest of Houston is a Will Rice sophomore. She is majoring in Spanish and has career plans of becoming a bilingual kindergarten teacher.
Jose Cruz is a baseball player at Rice. We do not know much about him except that he's an athlete and an engima with a broken arm.
Any suggestions or comments about web page email: Lynda_Yoon@hotmail.com
Last Updated April26, 2001 by Lynda Yoon
