How many died in galveston 1900 hurricane

Weather Bureau issued warnings telling people to move to higher ground. However, these advisories were ignored by many vacationers and residents alike. A foot storm surge flooded the city, which was then situated at less than 9 feet above sea level, and numerous homes and buildings were destroyed.

The hurricane remains the worst weather-related disaster in U. Galveston, first visited by French and Spanish explorers in the 16th and 17th centuries, is located on Galveston Island, a mile strip of land about two miles off the Texas coast and about 50 miles southeast of Houston.

The city, which was named in the late 18th century for the Spanish governor of Louisiana , Bernardo de Galvez , was incorporated in and is linked to the mainland by bridges and causeways.

Galveston is a commercial shipping port and, with its warm weather and miles of beaches, has also long been a popular resort. On September 8, a Category 4 hurricane ripped through Galveston, killing an estimated 6, to 8, people. After the hurricane, a large seawall was eventually built to protect Galveston from flooding. The city was pummeled again by major hurricanes in and , but they caused less damage than the one that struck in In , the U.

National Weather Service, which tracks hurricanes and issues advisories, started giving storms female names in order to help scientists and the public follow them. The World Meteorological Organization assigns one name for each letter of the alphabet, with the exception of Q, U and Z. The lists of names are reused every six years; however, when a hurricane is especially deadly or costly its name is retired and a new name is added to the list.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. It was the deadliest hurricane to hit the Western Hemisphere in more than years. Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More. The deadliest natural disaster in the United States occurred along the Texas coast during the peak of the hurricane season.

This storm seemed to come without warning to the residents of the fourth-largest city in Texas. The Weather Bureau began receiving warnings that a tropical disturbance had moved northward over Cuba on Sept.

Unfortunately, that was all the only report forecasters received because the National Weather Bureau director blocked telegraph messages from Cuban meteorologists. The director said it was because of the ongoing tensions of the Spanish-American War. This forced local Weather Bureau offices to seek authorization from the central office before issuing storm warnings. The morning of Sept.

Even those that had been carefully constructed to withstand the wind and rain of hurricanes were not able to resist battering by bridge trestles and other debris from already collapsed structures. Even "storm-proof" brick buildings fell under the onslaught. The collapsing buildings caught and held victims under water. Others were cut down by wave-tossed or wind-blown debris. The entire island was covered by a storm surge of up to When the wind and rain stopped and the water receded, the survivors emerged from their shelters to a horrific sight.

Bodies lay everywhere. Many victims were buried in the huge piles of rubble that covered the city; they were discovered only as the clean-up progressed. Structures in two-thirds of the city were totally destroyed. In the remaining one-third, most buildings were badly damaged.

Sunday Sept. Following is list of dead as accurately as News men have been able to make it. Those who have lost relatives should report same at News office. This list will be corrected and added to as returns come in. There will probably never be a full accounting of all the people who perished in the storm. In the semitropical climate, the most urgent task was disposing of the remains of the victims for health reasons.

Because of the powerful stench of decaying bodies, searchers wore handkerchiefs saturated with camphor over their noses, and many drank whiskey to dull the horror. When not enough volunteers could be found for this grisly task, men were rounded up at gunpoint or bayonet point to do it. At first, the remains were transported on barges into the Gulf, weighted with heavy rocks, and dumped overboard.

When some of the bodies began to float ashore several days later, funeral pyres were used to cremate the victims. About 70 victims a day were found during the first month after the storm. The funeral fires burned into November. Not until Feb. A final list of 4, dead was published in the Galveston News in early October, but many bodies were never identified. The best estimates give the number of dead as about 6, people in the city, while another 4,, died elsewhere on the island and on the nearby mainland.

The wagon bridge had washed away, leaving railroads the only transportation to the mainland. At a mass meeting the day after the storm, citizens elected a committee to direct recovery efforts: Galveston Mayor Walter C.

Jones was named chairman of the Central Relief Committee; state senator R. Davidson was secretary of the committee; ship agent W. McVitie was chairman of relief services; banker John Sealy was in charge of finances; ship agent Daniel Ripley was placed in charge of hospitals; banker and businessman Morris Lasker was in charge of correspondence.

Also on the committee were financier I. The relief committee organized quickly to take care of the most urgent needs of the survivors.

As the story of the city's tragedy spread, the world responded. The Central Relief Committee delegated to them the distribution of food and clothing until the Red Cross group left on Nov.

Donations poured in from cities around the United States and several foreign countries. Money came from millionaires in New York, from black churches in Georgia, and from a little girl in Chicago, who sent 10 cents.

Donations came from religious groups, labor and fraternal organizations and thousands of individuals. Relief funds were raised by an organ recital in Scranton, Pa. Money was sent by the German Turnverein of St. Louis, Mo. Sunday school classes sent their collections of pennies, nickels and dimes. Along with taking care of the immediate needs of clean-up, restoration of utilities, and feeding, clothing and sheltering the survivors of the storm, the Central Relief Committee paid for the building of new houses, plus furnishing partial financial aid for the repair or rebuilding of 1, houses.

A New Form of Municipal Government As discussion began on what should be done to prevent a recurrence of such a disaster, the old Deep Water Committee resurfaced. The DWC members were the elite of Galveston's finance and business world. McComb says, "Members of the committee and their associates directed the eight local banks, dominated 62 percent of the corporate capital, and controlled 75 percent of the valuable real estate. Dissatisfaction with Galveston's municipal government had been building during the preceding several years, especially within the ranks of financial and commercial leaders.

The sitting government was guilty not so much of malfeasance as of laxity and procrastination. Fiscal irregularities had been uncovered that were perhaps exacerbated by the fact that the official accountant did not know how to keep books. Galveston's financial situation was bleak. The city operated under a mayor-council charter, which, since the mids, provided for 12 councilmen. They were elected at large but were required to live in the wards they represented.

Two weeks after the storm, the council began discussing the need for a city government that could lead Galveston through the recovery period. The Deep Water Committee asserted that Galveston needed a stronger, more centralized, more efficient form of government to direct recovery efforts. The DWC proposed a commission appointed by the governor and composed of a mayor-president and four commissioners. Each commissioner would administer a division of city government: finance and revenue, police and fire, waterworks and sewerage, and streets and public improvements.

The committee further suggested that the state exempt Galveston from paying state and county taxes for two years and that the bonded debt be refinanced at a lower rate. In , any changes in city charters had to be approved by the legislature, so the DWC appealed directly to the state's governing body for enabling legislation for their ground-breaking charter. The original plan called for all five commission members to be appointed. The legislature approved an amended version providing for the election of two commissioners and the appointment of three.

In , under the threat of court challenges to the constitutionality of the charter, the legislature required that all commissioners be elected. Galveston kept the commission form of city government, with modifications, until Recovery was, of course, the highest priority with the new commission, which appointed three engineers to develop a plan to protect Galveston from future storms.

The engineers presented a two-part project: To break the force of the waves, they recommended building a concrete seawall three miles long from the south jetty across the eastern edge of the city and down the beach. To protect the city from flooding, they proposed raising the level of the entire city by picking up most of the structures in the city and filling in beneath them with sand. The county agreed to pay for the seawall through a bond issue.

Initially reluctant, the Texas Legislature finally agreed to a combination of tax abatement and sales of bonds to finance the grade elevation. O'Rourke and Co. First, piles were driven 40 to 50 feet deep and set four feet apart.

They were protected from undermining on the Gulf side by sheet piling sunk 26 feet into the sea floor.