Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson & Isaac Monroe Cline

Author:Erik Larson & Isaac Monroe Cline [Larson, Erik]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Natural Disasters, Southwest (AZ; NM; OK; TX), Southwest, Nature, Floods - Texas - Galveston - History - 20th century, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Texas, Hurricanes, Science, History, Cline; Isaac Monroe, State & Local, Galveston (Tex.), Galveston (Tex.) - History - 20th century, Environmental Science, Floods, Earth Sciences, United States, Hurricanes - Texas - Galveston - History - 20th century, Galveston, Meteorology & Climatology, 20th century, General, Weather, Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780375708275
Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc.
Published: 2000-07-11T05:00:00+00:00

We have been absolutely unable to hear a word from Galveston since 4 P.M.

yesterday. . . .

G. L. Vaughan,

Manager

Western Union, Houston

THE EAST SIDE

Louisa Rollfing

AUGUST ROLLFING FOUGHT his way back into the city. With each step the water seemed to rise higher up his legs, but that was impossible—nothing could make the sea rise so quickly. The storm was much worse than it had been on his way home. Now and then powerful gusts scraped squares of slate from nearby rooftops and launched them into the air as if they were autumn leaves. He saw whole families moving slowly toward the center of the city, everyone leaning against the wind. Broadway was a river of refugees.

Suddenly Louisa's desire to escape the beach did not seem so crazy.

Rollfing walked to a livery stable, Malloy's, and there hired a driver and buggy and sent them to his address with orders to pick up Louisa and the children and take them to his mother's house in the city's West End. He believed it a far safer neighborhood, perhaps because it was many blocks from the ocean beaches at the east and south edges of the city.

Apparently he did not take into account the fact that the bay was only ten blocks north of his mother's home. The wind was still blowing from the north over the long fetch of Galveston Bay, and with each increase in velocity drove more water into the city.

Rollfing went to his shop.

At one o'clock, the buggy pulled up in front of the family's house at 18th and Avenue O1/2. Louisa was overjoyed. She raced through the house collecting shoes and a change of clothing for everyone, and packed these in a large hamper, but once the driver and her children and she had all climbed aboard, she realized there simply was no room left. She had to leave the hamper behind.

She held Atlanta Anna in her arms. The driver set off for the West End, no doubt first driving north toward the slightly higher ground at the center of the city, then due west. "It was a terrible trip," Louisa said. "We could only go slowly for the electric wires were down everywhere, which made it dangerous. . . . The rain was icy cold and hurt our faces like glass splinters, and little 'Lanta' cried all along the way. I pressed her litde face hard against my breast, so she would not be hurt so badly. August and Helen didn't cry, they never said a word."

The driver dodged other storm refugees and great masses of floating wreckage. Judging by the quantity, whole houses must have come apart. The sky was so dark, it looked as if dusk had arrived half a day early.

"We got as far as 40th Street and Ave. H, just one block from Grandma," Louisa said.

"The water was so high, we just sat in it, the horse was up to his neck in water."

The driver turned onto 40th Street. Someone shouted for the buggy to stop.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.