Remembering the 1900 Galveston Hurricane

by Forrest M. Mims III

On September 8, 1900, a category 4 hurricane roared ashore at Galveston, Texas, and obliterated much of the island city. Estimates of the number of dead range from 6,000 to 8,000.

Galveston was then one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Its port shipped sugar, corn and cotton. The Strand, its major business street, was known as the “Wall Street of the Southwest.”

Galveston was also home to a United States Weather Bureau office headed by Dr. Isaac M. Cline. Warnings by Cline and his two associates saved the lives of thousands of the city’s residents.

Cline had received warnings about a hurricane in the Gulf, but there was no way to know its exact location or path. Instead, forecasters had to rely on changes in atmospheric pressure, wind direction and cloud patterns.

Three weeks after the hurricane washed across the island, Cline sent a detailed report to his superiors in Washington, DC. Cline’s report described the weather measurements and appearance of the sky until the afternoon of September 8. Then he began reporting how the sea was invading the island.

His final telegram read, “Gulf rising, water covers streets of about half of city."

Around 3:30 PM the afternoon of September 8, Cline retreated to his sturdy house. The wind had become dangerous, so he invited some 50 others to join him and his family inside. By 8:30 PM, a 6-meter (20 feet) tidal surge pushed neighboring houses into the Cline house and battered it down. Its occupants were dumped into the howling wind and water.

Only 18 people survived. Cline himself was badly injured, but he and his children survived. His wife was lost.

Near the end of his report, Cline wrote, “I believe that a sea wall, which would have broken the swells, would have saved much loss of both life and property.”

Galveston took his advice seriously and built a concrete sea wall 5.2 meters (17 feet) high and 11 kilometers (7 miles long). The city also jacked up most of the surviving buildings and pumped sand under them. They eventually raised the entire city in this fashion.

People have short memories of storms and floods, and today there has been considerable development along the beaches well away from the protection afforded by Galveston’s sea wall. The same situation prevails along much of the coastal United States subject to hurricanes. Many thousands of homes and businesses lie waiting for the next giant storm to spread their lumber, glass, nails and contents across the beaches and dunes.

Now that the Atlantic has returned to a period of more active hurricane activity, the question is not if another major hurricane will strike. The question is when.

Forrest M. Mims III and his science are featured online at www.forrestmims.org.

This feature was originally published in Forrest Mims's weekly science column in the Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, Seguin, Texas. The column is written for a general audience.