The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Page: 103
xiv, 17-536 p. : front., plates ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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THE GULF CITY A MASS OF RUINS. 103
A hurricane on the lower Texas coast and in Mexico on
August 20, I880, carried destruction far and wide. As many as
three hundred houses in Matamoras, Mexico, were demolished,
even brick buildings offering no more resistance than so many
toys. Brownsville, Texas, saw its houses unroofed and the infantry
barracks were demolished, and twenty-eight army horses and
several mules were killed. A convent did not escape damage, and
several of the occupants were injured by falling debris.
The railroads, quarantine stations and the lighthouses were
seriously damaged. Thirty lives were lost and property damaged
was estimated at $I,ooo,ooo. This hurricane was followed by one
of equal violence on the Mexican coast, which completely wiped
out the town of Altata and the port of that name. Not one house
was left standing and ships in the harbor suffered greatly.
ATLANTIC COAST ALSO SWEPT.
Savannah, Ga., has not escaped the fury of the southern gale.
The city suffered severely in I88I, the waters rushing into the
streets and causing the death of four hundred persons by drowning.
Four million dollars, it was said, was the amount of the damage to
property. In I893 Savannah was visited by another cyclone and
forty persons were killed. This time the property damage was
$7,000.000.
Havana, Cuba, and the West Indies were visited by a destructive
hurricane in September, 1888. One thousand persons were
killed and hundreds of head of cattle were killed. The loss was
$7,000,000.
Sabine Pass, which is the dividing line between Texas and
Louisiana, was swept by a terrific storm in October, I886. The
population of the town was about four hundred. Of these one
hundred and twenty-six perished and 90 per cent. of the deaths was
caused by drowning. Four houses escaped injury.
The coast of Mexico was devastated for three days in the fall
of 1889 by a destructive cyclone, which first struck the coast of
Campeachy. There was a drenching rain which played havoc
along the peninsula for miles. The wind was so furious in the
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The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times (Book)
This book covers the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the United States' deadliest natural disaster. It includes accounts from survivors and eyewitnesses, and photos of the devastation.
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Lester, Paul. The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times, book, 1900~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth26719/m1/126/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.