This is a series of disastrous events in American History. These disasters have accounted for thousands of deaths and even more emotional anguish than we could imagine.
1900 Galveston Hurricane
A Category 4 hurricane ripped through Galveston, Texas, killing an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people on September 8, 1900. The town, popularly called Oleander City, was a go-to vacation spot. There had always been weather threats, and the U.S. Weather Bureau had continuously issued warnings telling people to move to the higher ground; however, many vacationers and residents remained unbothered. The city was less than 9 feet above sea level, and numerous homes and buildings were destroyed after the hurricane.
The city was named for the Spanish governor of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez, in the late 18th century. Galveston remains a commercial shipping port, and as a result of its warm weather and miles of beaches, it has also long been a popular resort.
A couple of days before the storm hit, the Weather Bureau’s chief observer in Galveston, Isaac Cline, became suspicious of the direction that the hurricane was taking. He attempted to warn the city, but it was too late. Cline’s wife died as a result of the attack, the port city was destroyed, and Galveston was never able to recover fully.
The storm began to reduce around daybreak. The sun rose on September 9 over a coastal city that had been wiped out. One of the survivors described the scene as “knots of people frightened out of their wits, crazy men and women crying and weeping at the tops of their voices.”
Corpses were everywhere. Authorities declared martial law and began to force men, the majority of whom were black, to collect the dead, pile them on barges, and dump them in the Gulf for burial. However, the corpses washed back onshore. Finally, they had to be burned in funeral pyres. There were orders to shoot the people who stole jewellery from the dead bodies on sight.
The hurricane is still regarded as the worst weather-related disaster in U.S. history regarding loss of life.
