America’s Deadliest Hurricane

With Hurricane Ike barreling toward the seaside city of Galveston, Texas, an eerie coincidence has occurred. It was this very week (Sept. 8), 108 years ago, that the “storm” struck the city and killed more people than any hurricane before or since in the United States. More people died in Galveston than in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Seven interesting facts about the disaster:

1. How many people died? No one is certain. Some say up to 12,000, and others claim 10,000. But a detailed official study by the government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates 8,000 people perished on the island that day (although they qualify that with a footnote saying the death toll could be as high as 12,000). There were 37,000 residents of the city then.

2. The storm (hurricanes were not given names then) struck at night and the booming seaport city’s residents were dismissive of earlier weather reports that a strong storm had passed over Cuba. U.S. Weather Bureau forecasters said it would head northeast.

3. Researchers believe that the Galveston storm was a category 4 with with speeds of up to 140 mph and a storm surge of more than 15 feet.

4. More than 3,600 buildings were destroyed, including an orphanage where 10 nuns and 90 children died.

5. The estimated cost of damage from the storm was $20 million at that time. Today, it would add up to $700 million.

6. Galveston was a wealthy city in 1900, the only deep-water port in Texas when the cotton trade was booming. The main street was known as “Wall Street of the Southwest” and there were many mansions. The hurricane wiped out 12 blocks - about three-quarters of the city.

7. Isaac’s Storm, the recent best-selling book by Erik Larson, has post-storm video and photos on its Web site. Isaac Cline was Galveston’s meteorologist who, realizing his failure to recognize the storm’s fury, drove his buggy up and down the beach yelling to residents to flee. YouTube has a video clip made by Thomas Edison of the wreckage after the storm.

Information from NOAA, the Galveston County Daily News, Random House, CNN special report and USA Today.