Galveston Hurricane of 1900
September 8, 1900

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.

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

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

Cline’s Family

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

Galveston Hurricane
September 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

Storm Surge
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxX2q6
9rEmA

Galveston

Galveston

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 today’s 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Galveston Homes Lifted While
Awaiting Sand From the Gulf

Building of the Seawall

Construction of Seawall 1905

Galveston Seawall

Seawall During Hurricane Ike

Saint Mary’s Orphanage
• All 10 nuns and 90 of 93 orphans are killed in the hurricane.

High School and Beach Hotel

Tremont Hotel & Galveston Home

Aftermath

Aftermath

Aftermath

Galveston

Aftermath Photographs & Film
• http://www.1900storm.com/photographs/i ndex.lasso
• http://www.1900storm.com/film/index.las
so
• http://www.galveston.com/seawallcam/