![]() ![]() Adjusting for inflation, that would amount to roughly $970 million in today’s money. ![]() For the decision to not spend a few hundred thousand dollars shoring up the city’s defenses against a storm, Galveston’s government saw damage totaling an estimated $30 million. Instead of putting up a sea wall to protect against potential storms or putting a comprehensive evacuation plan in place, the Bureau essentially allowed a massive loss of life through inaction. In its aftermath, approximately 8,000 people (20 of the island’s population) lost their lives, making the hurricane the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. It would have been prudent to evacuate the city and get residents out of the path of the storm. On September 8, 1900, however, the Great Galveston Hurricane roared ashore, devastating the island with 130-140mph winds and a storm surge in excess of 15ft. ![]() The vast majority of the lives lost during the landfall of the storm could have been prevented if the agency had listened to reports of how strong the storm was as it gathered steam along the Gulf Coast. The failure of the Weather Bureau in Galveston is hard to overstate. This massive wall of water also devastated the city’s buildings and infrastructure, sending splintered debris rolling out into the ocean. The deadliest hurricane to ever batter the United States moved onshore. The storm surge alone was responsible for the majority of the estimated 8,000 people killed by the storm. The best track positions for the Galveston Hurricane during the 1900 hurricane season. Whilst the history of the track and intensity is not fully known, the weather system reached the Texan coast as a category 4 hurricane. The Great Hurricane on September 8th 1900, ripped through the Gulf Coast, killing an estimated 6,000 and leaving a further 8,000 homeless. Picture ten feet of water washing over a sandbar with a city on it. The end of Galveston’s reign came suddenly. When the hurricane hit, it did so with an estimated storm surge of ten feet of water running over the entirety of Galveston. However, at the urging of some politically motivated meteorologists, the government of the city took the opinion that it would be impossible for a hurricane to hit the island. What’s more, some residents had called for the construction of a sea wall to protect the island in the event of storm surges from hurricanes. ![]()
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