Destruction from the 1900 storm was so complete
the news didn't reach the outside world
until a message got out a couple of days later.
I doubt that the hurricane of 2008 that struck Galveston in the early morning hours ultimately will be regarded as comparable to
"The Great Storm" that devastated the city in September 1900.
"The Great Storm," as it is remembered locally, remains the deadliest natural disaster in American history.
(Why, you may ask, was the 1900 storm not given a name like Ike?
(The answer is simple. The National Hurricane Center did not begin naming tropical storms and hurricanes until 1953.)
In 1900, Galveston was a booming harbor city, the largest city in Texas. Some residents had urged the city to construct a seawall, but the proposal met a stonewall of local opposition. The logic at the time was: The city has been here for 60 years, and it's always gotten through storms with few problems. Why go to the unnecessary expense of constructing a seawall?
Thus, the city was left with little barrier between it and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico when the 1900 storm brought a surge exceeding 15 feet (at the time, the city's highest point was less than 9 feet above sea level).
To its credit, the city learned from its experience and constructed barriers to protect it from future storm surges. A seawall was no longer seen as an unnecessary expense.
So, in its way, I guess
"The Great Storm" served the same purpose for Galveston that the
Titanic served for oceanic travel. It led to necessary changes and the abandonment of foolish assumptions.
After the
Titanic sank, passenger ship lines made appropriate changes to improve passenger safety, revising outdated regulations and mandating enough lifeboats to accommodate everyone on board. One of the most important changes was the total abandonment of the assumption of the
unsinkable ship.
After
"The Great Storm," Galveston learned that lives could be saved and property could be protected if the city invested in a seawall. And the city abandoned its assumption that just because nature hadn't subjected Galveston to anything that horrific in the past was no guarantee it would not do so in the future.
Although the surge from Hurricane Ike was predicted to be higher than the surge was 108 years ago, it probably won't prove to be as devastating as the surge that flooded Galveston in 1900, thanks to the seawall.
It's not possible to talk to anyone who lived through
"The Great Storm" and therefore gain the insight of eyewitness comparisons.
Reportedly, the last living survivor died four years ago. She was said to be 116 when she died, which means she would have been about 12 when the storm hit Galveston. Census records suggest she was younger than that.
Whatever Hurricane Ike's eventual status turns out to be in local lore, its impact will be felt for a long time.
Ten years ago, I got a hint of what was coming — although I didn't know it (nor, I suppose, did I have any reason to).
I attended a James Taylor concert in Dallas, and Taylor performed a nearly half-century-old song about the 1900 hurricane called
"Wasn't That a Mighty Storm?"If you were to hear that song performed today — and if it didn't refer specifically to the year 1900 — you would think it had been written about the hurricane of 2008.
"The Great Storm" was, indeed, a
"mighty storm." Between 6,000 and 12,000 people perished in the 1900 storm, and damage figures (in today's dollars) exceeded Hurricane Katrina. The 1900 storm is estimated to have been a Category 4, although the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale that categorizes such storms did not come into existence until more than 70 years later.
Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2 — but it's safe to say that Ike was not a typical Category 2. It was really more of a freak. The wind strength may have been Category 2, but the storm itself produced an amazingly large storm surge, which posed the major threat to Galveston and other communities located along the western Gulf coast.
Certainly, there will be extensive damage to Galveston, which will be revealed as the remnants of the storm pass through today and daylight makes it easier to assess what has happened. At the moment, in the hour before dawn's first light, it's impossible to put a dollar figure on the damages or to estimate the number of casualties — although initial reports blame three deaths on the storm.
Area newspapers will be the best sources for information, but with power outages, local reports may be spotty for awhile:
- Science blogger Eric Berger has been monitoring the storm for the Houston Chronicle.
- Corpus Christi appears to have been spared the brunt of the storm. Nevertheless, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times devotes the front page of its website to hurricane coverage — including information that the Coast Guard is planning to resume its search this morning for a teenager who was swept off a local jetty on Friday.
According to reports, a large wave crashed into the jetty, sweeping the teenager, who had been walking with a companion, into the water. The reports lack specific details, but it has been suggested that the teenager was rendered unconscious when the wave hit, and he may be presumed dead. I've seen nothing that mentions preparations for his possible rescue.
His companion apparently was rescued.
- The Galveston County Daily News doesn't appear to have posted any updates since before the storm made landfall, but it will undoubtedly post information as soon as it can.
The storm left
more than 4 million Houston-area residents without power early this morning. Estimates are that it will be
"several weeks" before power is restored to all customers.
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