1fsw. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900Some natural disasters are so
embedded in our folklore that virtually everybody knows about them. We
have all heard about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Great
Chicago Fire of 1871 Yet the single deadliest natural disaster in U.S.
history, the Galveston (Texas) hurricane of 1900, seems to have been
lost from the national memory. In just a few hours, rising sea waters
and heavy surf drowned 6000 people on Galveston Island—a narrow strip of
land that peaks at less than 3 m (9 ft) above sea level (Figure
12-5-1).The loss of life resulted not from lack of warning but rather
from a failure to take the threat seriously. Two days earlier, a strong
storm was reported moving westward into the Gulf of Mexico off Cuba, and
ships returning from the Gulf of Mexico reported encountering the storm
offshore the day before it made landfall. Furthermore, the local
weather forecaster, Isaac Cline, observed the combination of winds and
heavy surf along the local beach and deduced that the storm would move
onshore. But evidence of the impending landfall seems to have been
largely unheeded, in part because some meteorologists erroneously
believed it was virtually impossible for a storm in the Caribbean to
track across the Gulf. Scientists (including Cline) were also
erroneously convinced that the gently sloping seafloor offshore would
protect Galveston from major flooding in the event of a hurricane.There
is some uncertainty as to when people started to take the hurricane
seriously. According to Cline’s account of the disaster, he rode through
Galveston Island urging residents to evacuate, but recent research
casts doubt about the degree to which he actually warned the populace.
Regardless of how urgent Cline’s warnings were, however, few people
evacuated, and some residents even rode to the beach to watch the heavy
waves crash against the shore.When the hurricane arrived, the people of
Galveston had no way to escape. Within hours the rising seas completely
covered the island so that the only potential shelter was in taller,
well-built structures. Even these failed to withstand the pounding of
waves and debris. Cline later gave the following account of his
ordeal:By 8 P.M. a number of houses had drifted up and lodged to the
east and southeast of my residence, and these with the force of the
waves acted as a battering ram against which it was impossible for any
building to stand for any length of time, and at 8:30 P.M., my residence
went down with about fifty persons who had sought it for safety, and
all but eighteen were hurled into eternity. Among those lost was my
wife, who never rose above the water after the wreck of the
building.Cline and his brother were luckier and grabbed onto floating
debris that helped them stay afloat. After three hours, the floodwaters
subsided and the Clines were on solid land, among the survivors.The
horror did not end with the passage of the hurricane. There were still
6000 bodies to deal with. Some were taken out to sea on barges, but many
washed back to shore. Ultimately, most of the bodies were cremated
where they were found.With our current ability to track and fore-cast
the movement of approaching hurricanes, there is no reason for a repeat
of this type of loss of life in North America. When Hurricane Ike
(Figure 12-5-2) struck the Galveston area in 2008 the loss of life was
tragic, but at levels far below those of the 1900 hurricane. But
hurricanes will always present a threat to Gulf and Atlantic coasts that
must be respected.FIGURE 12-5-1 Galveston Hurricane. The Galveston
hurricane of 1900 was the deadliest natural disaster in U.S.
history....FIGURE 12-5-2 Hurricane Ike. Damage to Galveston after
Hurricane Ike in 2008....What human errors contributed to the loss of
life from the 1900 hurricane? Get solution
2fsw. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900Some natural disasters are so embedded in our folklore that virtually everybody knows about them. We have all heard about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Yet the single deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the Galveston (Texas) hurricane of 1900, seems to have been lost from the national memory. In just a few hours, rising sea waters and heavy surf drowned 6000 people on Galveston Island—a narrow strip of land that peaks at less than 3 m (9 ft) above sea level (Figure 12-5-1).The loss of life resulted not from lack of warning but rather from a failure to take the threat seriously. Two days earlier, a strong storm was reported moving westward into the Gulf of Mexico off Cuba, and ships returning from the Gulf of Mexico reported encountering the storm offshore the day before it made landfall. Furthermore, the local weather forecaster, Isaac Cline, observed the combination of winds and heavy surf along the local beach and deduced that the storm would move onshore. But evidence of the impending landfall seems to have been largely unheeded, in part because some meteorologists erroneously believed it was virtually impossible for a storm in the Caribbean to track across the Gulf. Scientists (including Cline) were also erroneously convinced that the gently sloping seafloor offshore would protect Galveston from major flooding in the event of a hurricane.There is some uncertainty as to when people started to take the hurricane seriously. According to Cline’s account of the disaster, he rode through Galveston Island urging residents to evacuate, but recent research casts doubt about the degree to which he actually warned the populace. Regardless of how urgent Cline’s warnings were, however, few people evacuated, and some residents even rode to the beach to watch the heavy waves crash against the shore.When the hurricane arrived, the people of Galveston had no way to escape. Within hours the rising seas completely covered the island so that the only potential shelter was in taller, well-built structures. Even these failed to withstand the pounding of waves and debris. Cline later gave the following account of his ordeal:By 8 P.M. a number of houses had drifted up and lodged to the east and southeast of my residence, and these with the force of the waves acted as a battering ram against which it was impossible for any building to stand for any length of time, and at 8:30 P.M., my residence went down with about fifty persons who had sought it for safety, and all but eighteen were hurled into eternity. Among those lost was my wife, who never rose above the water after the wreck of the building.Cline and his brother were luckier and grabbed onto floating debris that helped them stay afloat. After three hours, the floodwaters subsided and the Clines were on solid land, among the survivors.The horror did not end with the passage of the hurricane. There were still 6000 bodies to deal with. Some were taken out to sea on barges, but many washed back to shore. Ultimately, most of the bodies were cremated where they were found.With our current ability to track and fore-cast the movement of approaching hurricanes, there is no reason for a repeat of this type of loss of life in North America. When Hurricane Ike (Figure 12-5-2) struck the Galveston area in 2008 the loss of life was tragic, but at levels far below those of the 1900 hurricane. But hurricanes will always present a threat to Gulf and Atlantic coasts that must be respected.FIGURE 12-5-1 Galveston Hurricane. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 was the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history....FIGURE 12-5-2 Hurricane Ike. Damage to Galveston after Hurricane Ike in 2008....Why is such a loss of life from a hurricane no longer likely in the United States? Get solution
2fsw. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900Some natural disasters are so embedded in our folklore that virtually everybody knows about them. We have all heard about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 Yet the single deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the Galveston (Texas) hurricane of 1900, seems to have been lost from the national memory. In just a few hours, rising sea waters and heavy surf drowned 6000 people on Galveston Island—a narrow strip of land that peaks at less than 3 m (9 ft) above sea level (Figure 12-5-1).The loss of life resulted not from lack of warning but rather from a failure to take the threat seriously. Two days earlier, a strong storm was reported moving westward into the Gulf of Mexico off Cuba, and ships returning from the Gulf of Mexico reported encountering the storm offshore the day before it made landfall. Furthermore, the local weather forecaster, Isaac Cline, observed the combination of winds and heavy surf along the local beach and deduced that the storm would move onshore. But evidence of the impending landfall seems to have been largely unheeded, in part because some meteorologists erroneously believed it was virtually impossible for a storm in the Caribbean to track across the Gulf. Scientists (including Cline) were also erroneously convinced that the gently sloping seafloor offshore would protect Galveston from major flooding in the event of a hurricane.There is some uncertainty as to when people started to take the hurricane seriously. According to Cline’s account of the disaster, he rode through Galveston Island urging residents to evacuate, but recent research casts doubt about the degree to which he actually warned the populace. Regardless of how urgent Cline’s warnings were, however, few people evacuated, and some residents even rode to the beach to watch the heavy waves crash against the shore.When the hurricane arrived, the people of Galveston had no way to escape. Within hours the rising seas completely covered the island so that the only potential shelter was in taller, well-built structures. Even these failed to withstand the pounding of waves and debris. Cline later gave the following account of his ordeal:By 8 P.M. a number of houses had drifted up and lodged to the east and southeast of my residence, and these with the force of the waves acted as a battering ram against which it was impossible for any building to stand for any length of time, and at 8:30 P.M., my residence went down with about fifty persons who had sought it for safety, and all but eighteen were hurled into eternity. Among those lost was my wife, who never rose above the water after the wreck of the building.Cline and his brother were luckier and grabbed onto floating debris that helped them stay afloat. After three hours, the floodwaters subsided and the Clines were on solid land, among the survivors.The horror did not end with the passage of the hurricane. There were still 6000 bodies to deal with. Some were taken out to sea on barges, but many washed back to shore. Ultimately, most of the bodies were cremated where they were found.With our current ability to track and fore-cast the movement of approaching hurricanes, there is no reason for a repeat of this type of loss of life in North America. When Hurricane Ike (Figure 12-5-2) struck the Galveston area in 2008 the loss of life was tragic, but at levels far below those of the 1900 hurricane. But hurricanes will always present a threat to Gulf and Atlantic coasts that must be respected.FIGURE 12-5-1 Galveston Hurricane. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 was the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history....FIGURE 12-5-2 Hurricane Ike. Damage to Galveston after Hurricane Ike in 2008....Why is such a loss of life from a hurricane no longer likely in the United States? Get solution
