Next week marks the centenary of the worst-ever natural disaster in the US.
One hundred years ago Galveston was a bustling port on the Gulf of Mexico. It
was 鈥渁 city of splendid homes and broad clean streets鈥�, according to a local
newspaper, and had a population of about 37 000. But Galveston was built on a
sandy island separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. Although it was in
the hurricane belt, it was thought the shallow sea would protect the town from
the worst effects of a storm. So when the winds began to get up on the morning
of 8 September 1900, the residents went down to the beach to watch the surf.
Their curiosity quickly gave way to fear. In his official report Isaac Cline,
the government鈥檚 local weather forecaster, gave an impressive account of the
impending disaster (www.history.noaa.gov/tales/weather/cline2.html). By noon
it was too late to escape. The atrocious weather, or perhaps a steamship that
had broken loose from its moorings鈥攁ccording to
www.disasterrelief.org/Disasters/980813Galveston鈥攈补诲
destroyed the bridges leading to the mainland.
By about 6.15 pm, said Cline, the anemometer clocked a wind speed of 160
kilometres per hour for two minutes before it was blown away. The residents of
Galveston retreated to the highest point of the island, which was less than 3
metres above sea level. By 8.30 pm Cline was with his family at a point 1.5
metres above sea level. He estimated that the tide was 6 metres high. 鈥淭hese
observations were carefully taken and represent to within a few tenths of a foot
the true conditions,鈥� Cline later wrote in his report.
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Killing between 6000 and 8000 people鈥攎ore than the San Francisco
earthquake鈥攊t had the highest death toll of any natural disaster in US
history, according to the magazine Weatherwise
(www.weatherwise.org/98jfhughes.html).
You can see film of the rescue workers鈥� frantic efforts (go
to www.1900storm.com, and click on 鈥淭he Aftermath: Film Clips鈥�). A month later
the workers found the body of Cora Cline, Isaac鈥檚 wife.
