Galveston Hurricane of 1900

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Galveston Hurricane of 1900

• September 8, 1900

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Importance of Galveston

• Galveston was an important port city before the
  hurricane.
• Had a population of 36,000
• One of the wealthiest cities per capita (income
  per person) in the U.S. and in TX
• Was going to become the New York City of the
  South.

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Galveston Firsts

• First electric lighting in Texas
• First telephone call in Texas
• First organized baseball game in Texas

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Isaac Cline

• Headed the Weather Bureau in Galveston during the
  1900 hurricane.

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Clines Family
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Galveston At Risk for Hurricanes

• Galveston is on an island, which is the barrier
  island that protects the Texas coast from the
  tides of the Gulf of Mexico.
• Barrier Island an island that protects the coast
  from the damaging effects of tides
• Hurricanes a tropical storm with sustained winds
  of at least 74 miles per hour

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Galveston HurricaneSeptember 8, 1900

• Galveston Island was at sea level. Highest point
  in the city was 8-9 feet above sea level.
• Winds blew more than 130 miles per hour
• Winds created storm surges 15-20 feet high

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Storm Surge

• http//3dnature.com/anim/Galveston_TX-20ft-high.mp
  4
• http//everydayexplorers.nationalgeographic.com/in
  dividual-video.php?mediaid325827

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Galveston
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Galveston
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Damage to Galveston

• More than 6,000 people died in Galveston (1/6 of
  the population)
• More than 3,600 homes were destroyed along with
  commercial structures causing 30 million dollars
  in damage (700 million in todays dollars).
• Galveston Hurricane reigns today as the deadliest
  natural disaster in U.S. history.
• Galveston fell behind as a leading port city and
  the city of Houston became the New York City of
  the South.

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Factors That Contributed to the High Number of
Deaths

• Timbers, bricks, slate and entire roofs flew into
  the streets, killing and injuring people as they
  fled.
• The water level rose and a storm surge
• lifted homes from their foundations and
• drowned countless people.
• Rubble crashed into other buildings and
• knocked them down as well.

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Time to Rebuild

• The people of Galveston knew their old form of
  government would not be able to handle this huge
  task so they formed a new one.
• The new government they chose was called a city
  commission.
• Commission- group of government officials
  elected to perform certain duties.

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Time to Rebuild, cont.

• Voters elected five commissioners to run the
  city.
• The commissioners were chosen for their knowledge
  of certain city development.
• The new government proved so effective that
  hundreds of other TX and U.S. cities adopted it.

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Steps Taken by Galveston to Prevent Future Damage

• They built a seawall to prevent future floods.
  It was a three-mile, concrete wall along the
  coast and was 16 ft. high and 17 ft. wide. Today
  it stretches more than 10 miles.
• They raised much of the city. They pumped sand
  from the sea floor of the Gulf of
• Mexico and lifted buildings to put the sand
  underneath those buildings.

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Galveston Homes Lifted While Awaiting Sand From
the Gulf
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Building of the Seawall
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Construction of Seawall 1905
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Galveston Seawall
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Seawall During Hurricane Ike
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Saint Marys Orphanage

• All 10 nuns and 90 of 93 orphans are killed in
  the hurricane.

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High School and Beach Hotel
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Tremont Hotel Galveston Home
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Aftermath
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Aftermath
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Aftermath
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Galveston
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Aftermath Photographs Film

• http//www.1900storm.com/photographs/index.lasso
• http//www.1900storm.com/film/index.lasso
• http//www.galveston.com/seawallcam/