Hurricanes and Galveston: 1900, 2005 and 2008
Galveston, the site in1900 of the greatest loss of life from any storm in US history, may face devastation from Hurricane Ike, but the mandatory evacuation ordered and largely implemented may greatly reduce loss of life. Ike’s path can be compared with the path of the September 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston. A detailed narrative documents the progress through the Gulf of Mexico of the 1900 Hurricane. Ike can be tracked on the National Hurricane Center site.
A few days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and much of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, the Houston Chronicle ran an article questioning whether Galveston was prepared for a severe hurricane. The article noted that Galveston had built a 15 foot seawall after the 1900 hurricane and had raised the land behind the seawall from 8 feet above sea level to 15 feet above but that about 2-1/2 feet of this increased elevation had been lost due to a blend of global sea level rise in the last century and subsidence along the Gulf Coast.
Galveston devastation 1900
NOAA photo
The article noted that although Katrina may have caused the greatest property damage of any US hurricane, the 1900 Galveston Hurricane killed more than any other storm in US history. About 8,000 of Galveston’s 1900 population of around 37,000 perished in this hurricane. This significantly eclipsed the fatalities from the next worst US storm disaster. Some remarkable images and records exist of the devastating storm 105 years ago. CNN provides vivid images including videos. NOAA provides documentation of failures in warning systems that may have added to loss of life.
Hurricane Rita, September 22, 2005,
barreling west across Gulf of Mexico
(NOAA photo)
Storm track of 1900 storm (NOAA photo)
Less than two weeks after the Houston Chronicle story appeared, Hurricane Rita was barreling toward the Texas Coast with winds greater than those that devastated Galveston in 1900. Although a massive evacuation occurred in Texas because of expected devastation, the storm path veered with the brunt of Rita being borne by communities in Louisiana.
In the days after Katrina devastated much of the Eastern Gulf Coast, Erik Larson, author of the widely acclaimed Isaac’s Storm detailing the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, was interviewed about the comparisons between Katrina and the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. He noted that Katrina’s damage to Biloxi and Gulfport was much closer to the Galveston carnage of 105 years ago than was the damage in New Orleans. He expressed concern that Galveston remained quite vulnerable today.
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National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): Are Hurricanes Intensifying?
