1900 Galveston Hurricane

This video consists of pictures that were taken after the great galveston storm of 1900 the hurricane was unknown before it hit the coast making all of galveston's residents at its mercy. Issac the local meteorlogist there at the time warned the residents and city counsel of a possible hurricane. They turned down his warning and they went on with their ways. This hurricane hit before the sea wall was built making the storm ten times more devastating then it wouldve been with the wall. The sea wall was recommended twenty years prior to the storm but the project never followed through because of ignorance and thinking that the geographical position of galveston made bad hurricanes impossible. The storm actually killed between 6000-8000 residents however it is estimated that another 4000 to 6000 thousand died from this storm. The hurricane was rated a Category 4 with winds well over 140 miles per hour with an estimated storm surge of almost 16 feet thats enough to turn nearly everything in its path into rubble. This storm is said to have one of the lowest ever recorded barometric pressure of 940mbh. For example on a sunny beautiful day barometric reading would be something like 1015mbh. The storm resulted in 20 million dollars in damage or today would be 700 million dollars accounting for inflation. The Seawall was completed in 1905 the next bad hurricane said to be equivelant to the magnitude of the 1900 storm wasn't nearly as destructive.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• 1900
• Galveston
• Hurricane
• Seawall
• Weather
• Storms
• History
• Meteorology
• Science

[SuperSincere1]

i cant believe how many people died

[PhOeNiXpIoLe]

@SuperSincere1 Still stands as the deadliest natural disaster in the United States and I didn't choose the music but check back here soon i will try and put back the original music that was on here, copyright issues with the last song.

[1tazio]

I've read that there were, like, three bridges to the mainland and they all got knocked out before the full hurricane even hit.

So by the time it got really bad, most of the people that lived there already were trapped on Galveston Island...yikes

*and by then the sea was so rough that escape by boat wasn't even a consideration

[PhOeNiXpIoLe]

@1tazio Yes of course no one had any choice because everyone heeded Issacs prediction, the Meteorologist there at the time, who said that the hurricane would take a different route, he also believed that Galveston's waters were too shallow for high storm surge so he told everyone they would be okay. Also in 1900 you needed a lot of time to know when to evacuate because your only option was to get on a horse or on a wagon and ride out. one bridge still exists today its used for trains.

[txbell69]

they should make a movie about this.

[PhOeNiXpIoLe]

@txbell69 They have actually, the TWC, or The Weather Channel has made a documentary about the entire thing, you should check it out.

[CantStopHere21]

A lovely tribute.  Thank you.

[rollerswartz]

true..just as Ike began flooding the island a full day before the storm, so did this one...they didnt have Dopple Radar, unfortunately, in 1900, so there was alot of guesswork in forecasting, and reliance upon ship reports, and telegraphs from other sources..anyways, great video..thanks for posting it

[PhOeNiXpIoLe]

Another reason for the high death toll was the lack of transportation there back then, I read somewheres that in 1900 only one car exisited in Galveston, everyone else had a horse and wagon, since the storm wasn't caught until after the streets were already flooding evacuating wasn't an option

[rollerswartz]

actually the 6000 is a very rough estimate, and it is often said that between 6000 and 8000 died on Galveston Island. Not hard to believe, since I had 5ft of water in my yard during IKE!!!!