Hurricanes and Galveston: 1900 and 2005

A few days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and much of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, the Houston Chronicle ran an article questioning whether Galveston was prepared for a severe hurricane. The article noted that Galveston had built a 15 foot seawall after the 1900 hurricane and had raised the land behind the seawall from 8 feet above sea level to 15 feet above but that about 2-1/2 feet of this increased elevation had been lost due to a blend of global sea level rise in the last century and subsidence along the Gulf Coast.

Galveston devastation 1900
NOAA photo

The article noted that although Katrina may have caused the greatest property damage of any US hurricane, the 1900 Galveston Hurricane killed more than any other storm in US history. About 8,000 of Galveston’s 1900 population of around 37,000 perished in this hurricane. This significantly eclipsed the fatalities from the next worst US storm disaster. Some remarkable images and records exist of the devastating storm 105 years ago. NOAA also provides a concise summary noting the absence of weather warning systems in 1900. CNN provides vivid images including videos, as does Weather.com.

Hurricane Rita, September 22, 2005,
barreling west across Gulf of Mexico
(NOAA photo)

Less than two weeks after the Houston Chronicle story appeared, Hurricane Rita is barreling toward the Texas Coast with winds greater than those that devastated Galveston in 1900. It can be tracked on the National Hurricane Center site. This can be compared with the path of the September 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston. A detailed narrative documents the progress through the Gulf of Mexico of the 1900 Hurricane. In the days after Katrina devastated much of the Eastern Gulf Coast, Erik Larson, author of the widely acclaimed Isaac’s Storm detailing the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, was interviewed about the comparisons between Katrina and the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. He noted that Katrina’s damage to Biloxi and Gulfport was much closer to the Galveston carnage of 105 years ago than was the damage in New Orleans. He expressed concern that Galveston remained quite vulnerable today.

Storm track of 1900 storm (NOAA photo)

Less than two weeks after the Houston Chronicle story appeared, Hurricane Rita is barreling toward the Texas Coast with winds greater than those that devastated Galveston in 1900. It can be tracked on the National Hurricane Center site. This can be compared with the path of the September 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston. A detailed narrative documents the progress through the Gulf of Mexico of the 1900 Hurricane.

In the days after Katrina devastated much of the Eastern Gulf Coast, Erik Larson, author of the widely acclaimed Isaac’s Storm detailing the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, was interviewed about the comparisons between Katrina and the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. He noted that Katrina’s damage to Biloxi and Gulfport was much closer to the Galveston carnage of 105 years ago than was the damage in New Orleans. He expressed concern that Galveston remained quite vulnerable today.

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