Catastrophes! by Donald R. Prothero

Author:Donald R. Prothero
Language: ru
Format: mobi
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2011-01-21T06:00:00+00:00

Fig. 6.2. Pictures of the devastation of Galveston after the 1900 hurricane. A, House blown over on its side. B, Ship pushed out into the wreckage of the city. C, Galveston was totally flattened into piles of lumber; a body lies in the wreckage of the wharf. (Images from old lantern slides; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

First news from Galveston just received by train which could get no closer to the bay shore than six miles where Prairie was strewn with debris and dead bodies. About 200 corpses counted from train. Large Steamship stranded two miles inland. Nothing could be seen of Galveston. Loss of life and property undoubtedly most appalling. Weather clear and bright here with gentle southeast wind. (Green 1900, 126)

Trains and boats from Houston and elsewhere soon rushed to the island to help survivors. Early messages estimated the death toll at only 500, and even that seemed incredible to outsiders. Little did they know that at least ten to fifteen times that many were actually dead. Almost a quarter of the population had died in one day, and there were not enough places to store the dead bodies (fig. 6.2C). It was impossible to bury the hundreds of bodies. When corpses were dropped in the ocean, they floated back to shore. Therefore, huge funeral pyres were set up to burn bodies for weeks to prevent the stench and to stop the spread of disease from the rotting corpses. The authorities passed out free whiskey to the men who had to throw hundreds of bodies, some of them their own wives and children, onto the bonfire.

Within days, the railroad lines and ferries were restored, mail and telegraphs were working again, and fresh water was accessible. A huge tent city, the “White City on the Beach,” was constructed from U.S. army tents. Many people built temporary houses out of “storm lumber” salvaged from the ruins. Eventually, bodies were all burned and the wreckage was cleared, but the storm changed many residents’ minds about living on Galveston Island. Development soon shifted to Houston, which was beginning to experience its first oil boom. Galveston was eventually rebuilt, with sand dredged from the island, raising the city higher above sea level, and a huge seawall was built to protect it. Galveston never recovered its status as the largest city in Texas. A hurricane in 1915 claimed 275 lives. Life on a barrier island is never safe from hurricanes.

Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones

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