Galveston Storm Essay

Dr.Cline began to become terrified of what the storm was becoming capable of and began warning Galveston residence. But it was too late, very few got out of the city in time. The wind blew the water out of Galveston bay and into the city itself. In effect, the storm 's trajectory made galveston the victim of two storm surges , the first in the bay, and the second from the Gulf. Many men and women began furiously chopping holes in their parlor floors to hopefully admit water and to anchor their homes in place. The winds remain at a sustained 150 miles per hour and had gust up to two hundred miles per hour. “The sea followed. Galveston became Atlantis.” Waves swept through neighborhoods taking houses and families with them. One resident describes

More than 3,600 homes were destroyed on Galveston Island and the added toll on commercial structures created a loss of $30 million, about $700 million in today 's dollars.” While the storm was extreme, so was the response of the survivors. Despite the unimaginable devastation the survivors faced, they immediately began rebuilding their city. By 10 a.m. Sept. 9 the Mayor of Galveston, Walter C. Jones had called an emergency city council meeting, and by the end of the day had appointed a Central Relief Committee. The newspaper even continued to publish from Galveston and never missed an issue. The first issue published was a front and back list of the dead, giving the survivors a reason to rebuild; for their lost loved ones. In the first week after the storm telegraph and water service were restored. Lines for a new telephone system were being laid by the second. "In the third week, Houston relief groups went home, the saloons reopened, the electric trolleys began operating and freight began moving through the harbor.” Residents of Galveston quickly decided that they would rebuild, that the city would survive, and almost as soon, leaders began deciding how it would do so. The two civil engineering projects leaders decided to pursue - building a seawall and raising the island 's