Galveston and the Great Storm of 1900

During the peak of the 1900 hurricane season, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico were hot. Very hot. Just the kind of hot a tropical storm needs to grow into a major hurricane.

In those days of primitive weather instruments, Cuban meteorologists had developed an amazing ability to forecast the track and intensity of major storms. They predicted a September tropical storm would intensify when it left Cuba. They also believed it would continue on a westward path, toward Texas.

Those early forecasters were right, but people working for the relatively new U.S. Weather Bureau disagreed. As a result, no warnings were given to Texans in the direct path of the “Great Storm of 1900.” When the hurricane reached Galveston, an island off the Texas shore, it temporarily buried the town and its people with sea water. At least 8,000 individuals died within a few hours.

In this story behind America’s worst disaster, learn how hurricanes develop. Visit Galveston as it was before, and immediately after, the storm. Watch videos, from the Library of Congress, documenting the events of September 8 and 9, 1900. See photos, and read eyewitness testimony, about the day Galveston forever changed.