Isaac's Storm: 1900 Hurricane at Galveston, TX

1:03pm Wed Sept 18, in Galveston, TX (on the way to College Station from Tallahassee)

I stopped here because I recently read Erik Larson's "Isaac's Storm," about the 1900 storm that hit this place. The Gulf beach here is only a block from my hotel, so as soon as I finish this I am headed for the water. The weather is favorable.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane

"The Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on September 8, 1900, in the city of Galveston, Texas, in the United States.^[1] It had estimated winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale.^[2] It was the deadliest hurricane in US history, and the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history based on the dollar's 2005 value (to compare costs with those of Hurricane Katrina and others).

"The hurricane caused great loss of life with the estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals;^[3] the number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of deaths or injuries of any Atlantic hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998's Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. By contrast, the second-deadliest storm to strike the United States, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, caused more than 2,500 deaths, and the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, claimed the lives of approximately 1,800 people..."

Deadliest United States hurricanes

Rank	Hurricane	Season	Fatalities
1	"Galveston"	1900	8,000–12,000†
2	"Okeechobee"	1928	2,500+†
3	Katrina	2005	1,836
4	"Cheniere Caminada"	1893	1,100–1,400*
5	"Sea Islands"	1893	1,000–2,000†
6	"Florida Keys"	1919	778
7	"Georgia"	1881	700†
8	Audrey	1957	416
9	"Labor Day"	1935	408
10	"Last Island"	1856	400†
†estimated total Reference: Deadliest US hurricanes

Costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricanes 1900–2005
Total estimated property damage, adjusted for wealth normalization^[32]

Rank	Hurricane	Season	Cost (2005 USD)
1	"Miami"	1926	$157 billion
2	"Galveston"	1900	$99.4 billion
3	Katrina	2005	$81.0 billion
4	"Galveston"	1915	$68.0 billion
5	Andrew	1992	$55.8 billion
6	"New England"	1938	$39.2 billion
7	"Cuba–Florida"	1944	$38.7 billion
8	"Okeechobee"	1928	$33.6 billion
9	Donna	1960	$26.8 billion
10	Camille	1969	$21.2 billion
Main article: List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes