Juanita P. Casanova
ED 6341.62
ESSEA Galveston Hurricane – Cycle A
Galveston Hurricane of 1900: Cycle A
Scenario:
In 2007, Hurricanes Dean and Felix made landfall in Central America. Both hurricanes
were category 5 hurricanes; it was the first time that 2 category 5 hurricanes made
landfall on the same year. According to the records from the Hurricane Center, on the
same day Hurricane Henriette also made landfall in Baja California. This was historical
as it was the first time that Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes made landfall on the same
day.
Hurricanes have been part of history; it was noted that even Columbus voyage was hit
by hurricanes.
Some of the devastating hurricanes that have hit North America in recent history are the
Great Galveston Hurricane at the beginning of the 20th century and Hurricane Katrina
which hit in 2005. On September 8, 1900, during the Great Galveston Hurricane over
6,000 people lost their lives when the hurricane hit Galveston, Texas.
Read and analyze scenario and situation
In 1900 Galveston was a major seaport for shipping cotton. As a result of this
devastating hurricane, Galveston lost its prominence on the Texan coast.
The hurricane pushed a wall of water over 15 feet deep onto the island. The wind
roared through Galveston at what was later estimated to be Category 4 speeds (131155 mph).
On September 9 more than 6,000 people lost their lives to what remains the deadliest
hurricane to ever hit the United States. In addition to the thousands dead, the storm left
millions of dollars of destruction in its wake. After making landfall at Galveston, the
storm tracked north through Texas and then into Oklahoma and Kansas. The remnants
of the storm made it northeastward across the Great Lakes and into Canada before
passing north of Halifax on September 12 and disappearing into the North Atlantic.
Are hurricanes increasing in intensity and frequency?
Now that Hurricane Katrina has once again awakened us to the threat of extra strong
hurricanes, my group has been called upon to conduct an Earth system analysis of the
Juanita P. Casanova
ED 6341.62
ESSEA Galveston Hurricane – Cycle A
1900 Galveston Hurricane as a case study in how to prepare for this increasingly
dangerous threat from Mother Nature.
E>S (EVENT>SPHERE)
E>B
Fresh water flooding from excessive rainfall can lead to large numbers of deaths by
drowning.
E>B
Excessive rain and flooding caused erosion of the land and sand deposited well inland
of the shoreline
E>B
Sand from the beach is washed out into the sea.
E>B
In some areas there is a thin sand veneer on top of clay. With that sand now gone, all of
the invertebrate animals are gone because they are not able to live in the clay.
EB
That will impact other animals in the food chain, such as birds that previously fed on the
small creatures.
E>B
Sand dunes are “blown out”; the dunes support animals such as Kemp’s Ridley sea
turtles, which are endangered.
E> B
Marshes are affected; loss of marshes affects the ecosystems: algae, plants, gulf crab,
shrimp and fish
E> B
Loss of marshes has an impact on economy.
E> B
Houses and buildings are damaged due to strong winds and excessive rain and
flooding.
List your personal understanding, ideas, or hunches
Hurricanes have impacted our lives since the beginning of time. History makes
reference to hurricanes as early as Columbus’ voyages. Hurricanes cause great
Juanita P. Casanova
ED 6341.62
ESSEA Galveston Hurricane – Cycle A
devastation to the land, the ecosystems, human life, and property. It is our
responsibility to become more informed to prepare for hurricanes, be ready for them,
and determine what needs to be changed in order to have the least impact on all
spheres of our lives.
List what is known
Hurricanes impact our lives.
A "hurricane" is the most severe category of the meteorological phenomenon known as
the "tropical cyclone."
Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems that have thunderstorm activity and rotate
counterclockwise. A tropical cyclone that has winds of 38 mph (33 kt) or less is called a
tropical depression. When the tropical cyclone's winds reach 39-73 mph (34-63 kt), it is
called a tropical storm. When the winds exceed 74 mph (64 kt), the storm is considered
to be a hurricane.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale defines hurricane strength by categories. A
Category 1 storm is the weakest hurricane (winds 74-95 mph or 64-82 kt); a Category 5
hurricane is the strongest (winds greater than 155 mph or 135 kt).
The category of the storm does not necessarily relate directly to the damage it will inflict.
Typical hurricanes are about 300 miles wide although they can vary considerably in
size.
The eye at a hurricane's center is a relatively calm, clear area approximately 20-40
miles across.
The eye wall surrounding the eye is composed of dense clouds that contain the highest
winds in the storm.
The storm's outer rain bands (often with hurricane or tropical storm-force winds) are
made up of dense bands of thunderstorms ranging from a few miles to tens of miles
wide and 50 to 300 miles long.
Hurricane-force winds can extend outward to about 25 miles in a small hurricane and to
more than 150 miles for a large one.
Tropical storm-force winds can stretch out as far as 300 miles from the center of a large
hurricane.
Juanita P. Casanova
ED 6341.62
ESSEA Galveston Hurricane – Cycle A
Frequently, the right side of a hurricane is the most dangerous in terms of storm surge,
winds, and tornadoes.
A hurricane's speed and path depend on complex ocean and atmospheric interactions,
including the presence or absenceof other weather patterns. This complexity of the flow
makes it very difficult to predict the speed and direction of a hurricane.
List what is unknown
How much preparation time were residents of Galveston area given before the landfall
of hurricane?
Exactly how many people died as a result of hurricane?
How much damage did Galveston incur?
Did Galveston have some sort of Evacuation Route or Hurricane Preparedness in
effect?
List what needs to be done
Research on The Great Galveston Hurricane.
Make a comparison of hurricanes with same category rating
Develop a problem statement
Are hurricanes occurring more often due to climate changes?
Gather information
Every year our country is confronted with hurricanes. These hurricanes can cause
horrific disaster to homes, the environment and animal habitats. How can we use our
known technology and resources to better prevent major damage to our regions before
hurricanes reach landfall?
Present findings
Within our team, we will meet in order to gather, organize and analyze our basic
information on hurricanes. We will discuss each other’s problem statement and derive a
team problem statement. All of our information on hurricanes will be made available to
Juanita P. Casanova
ED 6341.62
ESSEA Galveston Hurricane – Cycle A
each team member through the use of our team wiki. Comments will be reviewed and
responded to accordingly.
Personal Reflection:
Hurricanes are a result of a force of nature. This week’s unit on hurricanes has made
me think back on my childhood. I remember as a 7 year old, (1967) Hurricane Beulah
made landfall in Harlingen. To this day, I still remember the experiences that my family
and friends went through.
After reading the scenario on the Great Galveston Hurricane it made me understand
that sometimes we can be sitting ducks to Mother Nature. Hurricanes can be very
powerful and even cause total destruction, and mass amount of fatalities as was noted
with the Hurricane of 1900. I read conflicting reports that stated that anywhere from
6000 to 12,000 deaths were recorded.
As I began to look at it from a teacher standpoint, I began to understand how a PBL
model can cause a student to become more engaged in the lesson. Students can
generate some great thought provoking questions as they began to understand the
model, and as a consequence, their research may be more detailed.
I firmly believe that an effective approach to the PBL model is to have a well-thought of
scenario in mind which will lead to discussion and mind provoking questions.