In the 1890’s Galveston was one of the biggest cities the United States and also known as, “The New York of the Gulf”, and was on its way to becoming one the most important ports in the country. Everything was well on its way to continue rise up and up until one day it all came crashing down. This was the day of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the most deadly hurricane to ever hit.
Despite having a measly area of only 64.02 miles, Galveston was a booming city with a whopping 37,000 residents living there. Reaching a maximum elevation of 8.7 feet, most of Galveston was even to sea level or right above it. Even with being such a small land mass, Galveston was well on its way to becoming one of the most important ports in the United States. …show more content…
The flooding wasn’t unusual, though, the city was only a little above sea level and it flooded like that normally. Though, off the coast some pretty heavy swells began to pop up but the mostly blue sky suggested that nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen. Some residents of Galveston hinted there was a storm brewing in the ocean, but they just ignored the signs because they had handled many other storms. But, Galveston had never seen any hurricane or storm like this before. By mid-morning rain clouds covered the sky and the winds speed started to pick up, and by mid-afternoon the hurricane hit and only intensified as the darkness of the storm descended. The residents were warned to evacuate, but many still waited until it was too late to seek shelter or leave the …show more content…
The seawalls construction began on October 27, 1902 and was completed on July 29, 1904. When it was completed, the seawall was six miles long and stood seventeen feet above average low tide. The wall has been extended to 10 miles since its construction. At the same time, inside the city, sand brought in from Galveston’s ship channel was used to raise the grade (elevation) of Galveston. The buildings were lifted on multiple jacks and sand would be pumped beneath them. One of the biggest buildings that they raised was a 3,000 ton church. Although Galveston eventually did rebuild itself, it never regained the title of being the premier shipping port, instead that spot was overtaken by Houston, Texas.
In all, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 was one of the most deadly hurricanes to ever hit the United States. Not only because of the mass destruction and huge cost it left, but also because of the traumatizing scenes that left people scarred with those events for the rest of their
Despite having a measly area of only 64.02 miles, Galveston was a booming city with a whopping 37,000 residents living there. Reaching a maximum elevation of 8.7 feet, most of Galveston was even to sea level or right above it. Even with being such a small land mass, Galveston was well on its way to becoming one of the most important ports in the United States. …show more content…
The flooding wasn’t unusual, though, the city was only a little above sea level and it flooded like that normally. Though, off the coast some pretty heavy swells began to pop up but the mostly blue sky suggested that nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen. Some residents of Galveston hinted there was a storm brewing in the ocean, but they just ignored the signs because they had handled many other storms. But, Galveston had never seen any hurricane or storm like this before. By mid-morning rain clouds covered the sky and the winds speed started to pick up, and by mid-afternoon the hurricane hit and only intensified as the darkness of the storm descended. The residents were warned to evacuate, but many still waited until it was too late to seek shelter or leave the …show more content…
The seawalls construction began on October 27, 1902 and was completed on July 29, 1904. When it was completed, the seawall was six miles long and stood seventeen feet above average low tide. The wall has been extended to 10 miles since its construction. At the same time, inside the city, sand brought in from Galveston’s ship channel was used to raise the grade (elevation) of Galveston. The buildings were lifted on multiple jacks and sand would be pumped beneath them. One of the biggest buildings that they raised was a 3,000 ton church. Although Galveston eventually did rebuild itself, it never regained the title of being the premier shipping port, instead that spot was overtaken by Houston, Texas.
In all, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 was one of the most deadly hurricanes to ever hit the United States. Not only because of the mass destruction and huge cost it left, but also because of the traumatizing scenes that left people scarred with those events for the rest of their