GREAT GALVESTON HURRICANE

On 8 September 1900, the biggest city in Texas was flattened by a hurricane. Forecasters had warned of a tropical storm south of Florida two days earlier, but they thought it was moving northward. Unknown to them, it was actually turning west into the Gulf of Mexico and rapidly growing in strength. Ships had noticed the disturbance, but had found it hard to get messages back to shore. The weather was worsening, and the tide was rising, but by the time the local weather bureau started warning people to leave, it was already too late. Winds had picked up to 140 miles per hour and waves were towering 4.5 metres into the air. It wasn’t the strongest hurricane ever to hit the US, but was by far the deadliest. It claimed the lives of around 8,000 people.