Galveston Hurricane essays

Galveston Hurricane essays The Galveston Hurricane and Storm Surge On a Friday evening in Galveston on September 7, 1900, many residents were eating dinner unaware of a disastrous hurricane headed toward them. The people were not sure just how very powerful the hurricane was because they did not have the modern technology that we have today. Their way of determining hurricane statistics was to simply go out on boats and report back information. By noon on September 8, 1900, this hurricane had grown in wind speed from 15 miles per hour to over 50 miles per hour. The storm appeared to be getting larger. The Galveston Hurricane was the worst hurricane in American history. It was an F-4 hurricane with winds that were said to have reached up to 145 miles per hour. The water rose so much that it completely submerged bridges that attached the mainland with the island. Atmospheric pressure went into double digits, and the barometric pressure fell rapidly as the water rose. Galvestons highest point was only 8.7 feet above sea level, so the water did not have to rise much to cover the whole island. There were 8,000 deaths after the hurricane was finished with its destruction. Over 3,600 homes were either swept away or turned into wreckage. There was not a single building that escaped damage. The hurricane left 6,000 survivors with 5,000 of these survivors having been either bruised or beaten. Prior to the hurricane, Galveston was known as the New York of the South because it was the leading seaport in the nation. This soon changed following the hurricane. The Galveston Hurricane was more disastrous than even the Great Chicago Fire and the Johnstown Flood put together. Because of all of the bodies, the citys leaders decided to give the dead a burial at sea. Over 700 bodies were placed on a barge that took them out to sea. Th ...