The History of Texas Hurricanes in the Twentieth Century

The history of Texas hurricanes in the 20th century seems to be a history of frequent hurricanes followed by years of no hurricanes at all. Texas also had the worst hurricane in American history in terms of loss of life. In the early years of the 29th century, hurricanes were not given names.

The worst hurricane every to hit Texas in the history of the 20th century came ashore in Galveston on September 8, 1900. The hurricane was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on August 27. It reached Cuba as a tropical storm on September 5. By the time it reached Galveston on September 8, it was a category 4 hurricane with an 8 to 15 foot storm surge.

Galveston was, at this time, one of the wealthiest communities not only in Texas but also in the United States. It was a bustling port with many millionaires. Galveston boasted electricity and the telephone, very rare for a community of only 38,000 people. It had an opera house, 58 miles of streetcar track, and foreign consulates for 19 countries.

The hurricane and 8 to 15 foot storm surge destroyed the downtown area and was responsible for around 10,000 deaths, over one quarter of the total population of Galveston. This death toll is the largest weather related loss of life in the history of Texas and of the United States. There were so many bodies that they had to be burned and bodies continued to be found until February of the following year.

Galveston never recovered from this blow. It lost its pre-eminence as a port and the wealth moved elsewhere.

The next hurricane to hit Texas was on July 20, 1909. The hurricane passed over Velasco where the calm center lasted 45 minutes. Then came winds that destroyed on half the town.

On August 16, 1915 Galveston was hit again by a hurricane. A 12-foot storm tide overwhelmed the 10-foot seawall and the downtown district was flooded to a depth of 6 feet. 275 people died.

On Sept. 14, 1919 the forth most intense storm of the 20th century landed south of Corpus Christi. Ten ships were lost at sea, accounting for 500 of the 800 to 900 deaths. Tides were 16 feet above normal and 287 lives were lost on land.