Natural disasters are almost always connected with negative economic effects on civilization and may be destructive in and of themselves. Nevertheless, despite this reality, the majority of these catastrophes are unavoidable and will inevitably occur in certain high-risk zones. Many residential areas close to big bodies of water are often at risk of being hit by hurricanes. Hurricanes are almost always accompanied by many unfavorable outcomes, including loss of life and property damage. One of the locations that are situated close to the Gulf Coast is Galveston (McElreath 529). It was one of the promising coastal cities in the United States during the 18th century because it boasted an excellent seaport that was essential in revenue collection, particularly from the ships that loaded and unloaded cotton. They made it one of the most important revenue sources of the country (Frank 129). McElreath (532) asserts that the people of Galveston never contemplated the possibility of anything going wrong since they believed their city to be unbeatable as a result of the tremendous fortunes they had had. On September 8, 1900, the town underwent a transformation that will not be reversed because of its location so close to a large body of water, which had earlier altered its fortunes.
Galveston was pummeled by a hurricane that was moving at a pace of around 140 miles per hour when it reached the city, which caused it to be entirely submerged. Galveston was a low-lying island near the Texas coastline, and since it lacked many natural barriers, it was very susceptible to the storm. In addition, to make matters even worse, sand from the beaches was deliberatively removed so that it could be used in other areas of the city (Horowitz 96). Therefore, this suggests that all of the occupants’ natural barriers, which were relatively small, have been removed. In addition, Frank (134) mentions that the city’s meteorological department, which Isaac Cline led, openly asserted that the city was safe and would not be hit by hurricanes, even though many people advocated for the construction of a seawall to act as a barrier against the oncoming storm surges. During this time, however, the United States weather viewer was only a decade old and used antiquated methods to track hurricanes. They often relied on unreliable information from ships in the Gulf of Mexico.
As a direct consequence of this, it incorrectly predicted that the storm would go from Florida up to New England. On the other side, Cuba, which had more advanced ways of monitoring the weather, predicted that the storm would veer west into the Gulf of Mexico and Texas, which aligned with real-life events. Unfortunately, Texas was not even close to being prepared for a hurricane of this scale (McElreath 538). More than 3,600 structures were destroyed, and it is estimated that up to 12,000 individuals lost their lives. As far as the loss of human life is concerned, this disaster is the worst that has ever befallen the United States. It is estimated that the damages caused by the demolition would exceed twenty million dollars, which was a magnificent figure during that period (Frank 136). According to Horowitz (105), the horrible events completely devastated the lives of the people who survived them since at least one person had to say goodbye to a loved one due to them.
One of the factors that contributed to the high mortality toll caused by the storm was a mistake that the administration made. Isaac Cline’s naivety and belief that a seawall should not be built are to blame for the tragedy since he never considered the possibility that the weather may behave in an unforeseen manner and lead to disastrous outcomes. In addition, he was unaware that the lowering of the barometer and the rise of the water level were the first warning indications of the massive storm (Horowitz 107). In addition, the heads of meteorology were prejudiced, as shown by the fact that they had prohibited any forms of weather forecasting from Cuba due to their hate of persons of Hispanic descent. This resulted from the Spanish–American War, which had just ended (Frank 138). The Cuban meteorological office was more sophisticated and had spotted the storm; nevertheless, they were not listened to, and their findings were ignored. McElreath (541), on the other hand, asserts that Isaac Cline’s advice to the inhabitants of Galveston to evacuate to higher elevations was pointless since the hurricane nevertheless struck higher terrain and killed more people despite the evacuation. However, several locals chose to disregard these warnings since they had experienced the high winds in the past and, as a result, did not consider them to be particularly significant.
In conclusion, natural catastrophes are almost always catastrophic and almost always unavoidable. In terms of the number of lives lost, the hurricane that struck Galveston in 1900 is considered one of the worst hurricanes ever to strike the United States. Consequently, almost ten thousand people were killed, roughly 3,600 structures were leveled, and property valued at over twenty million dollars was lost. The meteorological department is mostly to blame for the high death toll caused by the tragedy due to their carelessness and errors. It rejected the early warning indications such as increasing sea levels and the drop in barometer readings. Additionally, it dismissed warnings from Cuba, which had excellent procedures for monitoring weather changes. On the other hand, the locals are criticized for rejecting warnings to move to higher land even though they were given.
Works Cited
Frank, Neil L. “The great Galveston hurricane of 1900.”Hurricane! Coping With Disaster (2003): 129-140. Web.
Horowitz, Andy. “The complete story of the Galveston horror: Trauma, history, and the Great Storm of 1900.”Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 41.3 (2015): 95-108. Web.
McElreath, David H., et al. “Dangers from the sea: Considerations of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane.”International Journal of Maritime History 29.3 (2017): 529-543. Web.