Galveston Hurricane of 1900

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h), making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The storm

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Washington, D.C.

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September 9, 1900

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To: Manager, Western Union

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Houston, Texas

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Do you hear anything about Galveston?

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Willis L. Moore

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Chief, U.S. Weather Bureau

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The last train to reach Galveston left Houston on the morning of the September 8 at 9:45 a.m. It found the tracks washed out, and passengers were forced to transfer to a relief train on parallel tracks to complete their journey. Even then, debris on the track kept the train's progress at a crawl.

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The ninety-five travelers on the train from Beaumont were not so lucky. They found themselves at the Bolivar Peninsula waiting for the ferry that would carry them, train and all, to the island. When they arrived, the high seas forced the ferry captain to give up on his attempt to dock. The train attempted to return the way it had come, but rising water blocked its path.

Related Topics:
Beaumont - Bolivar Peninsula

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By early afternoon, a steady northeastern wind had picked up. By 5 p.m., the Bureau office was recording sustained hurricane force winds. That night, the wind direction shifted to the east, and then to the southeast as the hurricane's eye began to pass over the island.

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One of the last messages that reached the mainland was from Cline at 3:30 p.m., reporting "Gulf rising, water covers streets of about half of city." After that, the telegraph lines were cut.

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The highest measured wind speed was 100 mph (160 km/h) just after 6 p.m., but the Weather Bureau's anemometer was blown off the building shortly after that measurement. The eye passed over the city around 8 p.m. Maximum winds were estimated at 120 mph at the time, but later estimates placed the hurricane at the higher Category 4 position on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The lowest recorded barometric pressure was 28.48 inHg (964.4 hPa), considered at the time to be so low as to be obviously in error. Modern estimates place the storm's central pressure at 27.49 inHg (930.9 hPa).

Related Topics:
Anemometer - Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale - Barometric pressure - HPa

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At the Bolivar Lighthouse, ten refugees from the Beaumont train took refuge with two hundred residents of Port Bolivar. The eighty-five that stayed with the train died when the storm surge overran the tops of the cars.

Related Topics:
Bolivar Lighthouse - Port Bolivar - Storm surge

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By 11 p.m., the wind was southerly and diminishing. On Sunday morning, a 20 mph breeze off the Gulf of Mexico greeted the survivors as they put aside the terror of the storm. The skies were clear as they realized what horror the cleanup would be.

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The storm continued on, and was tracked into Oklahoma. From there, it continued over the Great Lakes while still sustaining winds of almost 40 mph recorded over Milwaukee, WI, and passed north of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 12. From there it travelled into the North Atlantic where it disappeared from observations.

Related Topics:
Oklahoma - Great Lakes - Halifax, Nova Scotia - September 12 - North Atlantic

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