Galveston 1900 hurricane documentary on History Channel

[HurricaneJoe22]

FYI: It's on right now.

[HurricaneQueen]

THANKS!!!!

[AL Chili Pepper]

I caught that and it (Isaac's Storm) was a good show. The one that came on after that, about the "Perfect Storm", was pretty good also.

In "Isaac's Storm", half the show was explaining how Galveston's meteorologist (Isaac Cline) thought that no storm could do great damage to the city, and didn't even raise the hurricane flag until the streets were flooded and there was no way out. The second show claimed that Cline was running door to door warning people to get out before the storm arrived. It also later claimed the 1935 "Labor Day" hurricane was the only Cat 5 to hit the U.S. mainland. Hmmm.

Anyway, I found a link to Cline's account of the storm that he wrote about a week after the event.

http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/cline2.html

[Normandy]

He would have to be the stupidest man alive to think that a hurricane wouldnt do any damage to galveston (ESPECIALLY a seawall-less Galveston). What an idiot.

[BLHutch]

He would have to be the stupidest man alive to think that a hurricane wouldnt do any damage to galveston (ESPECIALLY a seawall-less Galveston). What an idiot.

He was not an idiot. It is easy to think that looking back one hundred years. Cline was a product of another era. Don't judge him by our standards. And he was hardly remarkable in the sense that he thought that Galveston was impervious to a hurricane. Plenty of people thought that. He made a tragic mistake. But keep in mind, there were those who knew that a storm was coming. The National Weather Service decided not to heed warnings given by Cuban forecasters.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Cline was merely a reflection of a by-gone era. He was a lot of things, but he was no idiot.

[FritzPaul]

There's a lesson to be learned from that show:

Technology vs. Mother Nature

....and we know who the victor will be most of the time!

[Normandy]

He would have to be the stupidest man alive to think that a hurricane wouldnt do any damage to galveston (ESPECIALLY a seawall-less Galveston). What an idiot.

He was not an idiot. It is easy to think that looking back one hundred years. Cline was a product of another era. Don't judge him by our standards. And he was hardly remarkable in the sense that he thought that Galveston was impervious to a hurricane. Plenty of people thought that. He made a tragic mistake. But keep in mind, there were those who knew that a storm was coming. The National Weather Service decided not to heed warnings given by Cuban forecasters.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Cline was merely a reflection of a by-gone era. He was a lot of things, but he was no idiot.

If he knew what a hurricane could do, he should have known that Galveston was not invicible. 8 feet above sea level is very low....even a cat 2 could have wrecked Galveston.

[BLHutch]

Most Galvestonians at that time thought that they were immune from a hurricane strike....not just Cline. And plenty of them had lived through the 1886 storm (the same one that destroyed Indianola). It has nothing to do with what a Cat 2 or higher storm could or could not do. Keep in mind, they did not catagorize storms back then. It has more to do with the mindset of the latter part of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century. I am a professional historian. I make my living getting inside people's heads from that time period and analyzing things from their perspective. It made perfect sense to them that Galveston was immune from a major strike. After all, they had dodged most serious storms and escaped with little damage up until that point. I'm not defending Cline's actions. I am, however, saying that his views made sense considering the context of the times in which he lived.

Brady

[Normandy]

Most Galvestonians at that time thought that they were immune from a hurricane strike....not just Cline. And plenty of them had lived through the 1886 storm (the same one that destroyed Indianola). It has nothing to do with what a Cat 2 or higher storm could or could not do. Keep in mind, they did not catagorize storms back then. It has more to do with the mindset of the latter part of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century. I am a professional historian. I make my living getting inside people's heads from that time period and analyzing things from their perspective. It made perfect sense to them that Galveston was immune from a major strike. After all, they had dodged most serious storms and escaped with little damage up until that point. I'm not defending Cline's actions. I am, however, saying that his views made sense considering the context of the times in which he lived.

Brady

Well I just find it hard to believe that since he was a trained meteorologist and knew what hurricanes could do, its silly of him to proclaim that. The public of Gavleston being complacent I could understand.

[BLHutch]

Keep in mind that meteorology was nowhere NEAR what it is today. Also, and this is kind of interesting, they were not allowed to make forecasts. All they actually did was record weather data and transmit it to headquarters. Strange, isn't it? He was also a doctor (MD) and working on a PhD at the time of the storm. Did he drop the ball? Sure. You'll get no argument from me there. He definitely screwed up. But so did his superiors, and the citizens of the island as well.

The lessons that can be learned from the comlacency, both of Cline and the citizens of Galveston, are what is important to the story. Hopefully next time, neither our meteorologists nor the public will have the same attitude. We'll find out one day.

Brady

[tomboudreau]

You also have to keep in mind that this happened in 1900. Technology was no where next to where it was. He thought that this storm had actually gone up the coast through Florida and out to sea, but in fact this storm went into the Gulf of Mexico. Have you read the book or seen the movie? You would understand what happened. This man was no where next to an idiot. The United States at the time had placed a block on data from the Cubans, except for the US Weather Bureau ppl that were in Cuba. The US Weather Bureau people told Washington that this storm was going to the north, not to the west. The Cubans had an idea that this storm was moving differently, but because of the block, no one knew in Washington that this storm was moving differently.

[JenyEliza]

I caught that and it (Isaac's Storm) was a good show. The one that came on after that, about the "Perfect Storm", was pretty good also.

In "Isaac's Storm", half the show was explaining how Galveston's meteorologist (Isaac Cline) thought that no storm could do great damage to the city, and didn't even raise the hurricane flag until the streets were flooded and there was no way out. The second show claimed that Cline was running door to door warning people to get out before the storm arrived. It also later claimed the 1935 "Labor Day" hurricane was the only Cat 5 to hit the U.S. mainland. Hmmm.

Anyway, I found a link to Cline's account of the storm that he wrote about a week after the event.

http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/cline2.html

Thanks for posting that link. I just got through reading that terrifying account of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

It is readily apparent to me (a layperson) that Dr. Cline and his staff did their level best to save life and limb and to provide as much warning and assistance as they could to the people of Galveston, TX.

They did not have benefit of the modern technology we do today. I cannot imagine trying to predict a landfalling Hurricane without benefit of Satellite technology--but they did their best.

I don't think Dr. Cline was an idiot. I think he was a devoted Weather Bureau employee who risked his (and his staff's) lives to collect information which would be helpful in determining the course of action to save the lives of those around them.

It was painfully obvious to me while reading his account that it was written while he was in a state of shock. He must have been unspeakably traumatized and devastated, yet, he wrote a very detailed, scientfic account of all that transpired--and wrote this piece just days after losing his wife and witnessing the catastrophic loss of human life all around him. I could not have done the same.

Without doubt, had Dr. Cline had today's modern technology at his disposal, the decisions made regarding protection of life and property on Galveston Island would have been very very different.

My take: He did his level best with the information and equipment he had to work with. I suspect even more would have perished had he not taken the steps he did.

Jeny

[JenyEliza]

Some pictures of the Galveston Hurricane devastation:

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/hurr1.html

The pictures are STUNNING.

[JenyEliza]

And another rather striking photo: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/wea00582.htm

[JenyEliza]

And this one just puts it truly in perspective, as to the times in which this Hurricane took place and Dr. Cline's limited access to informatoin and technology.

They removed the dead to barges for burial at sea--by horse drawn carriage.

1900 was a VERY different time than now. The car and telephone were not commonly in use. Mondern technology (as we know it) was not even on the drawing boards...things were rather primitive then by our current standards (but they thought they were high-tech, just as we do now, and just as future generations will look upon us as being primitive)

[TT-SEA]

JenyEliza...

Great pictures.

Just for clarification... that second picture is of the Rhode Island Yacht Club during Hurricane Carol in 1954. The caption on the photo says 1969... but that is wrong. I found the same picture here...

http://www.geocities.com/hurricanene/hurricanecarol.htm

The first group of pictures in the link you sent are from Galveston... the rest are from other hurricanes.

[JenyEliza]

Great picture.

Just for clarification... that picture is of the Rhode Island Yacht Club during Hurricane Carol in 1954. The caption on the photo says 1969... but that is wrong. I found the same picture here...

http://www.geocities.com/hurricanene/hurricanecarol.htm

The first group of pictures in the link you sent are from Galveston... the rest are from other hurricanes.

Thanks, I caught that and it has been removed.

[patgaz]

Here's another link on the 1900 storm.

http://www.1900storm.com/

[JenyEliza]

Here's another link on the 1900 storm.

http://www.1900storm.com/

WOW! Excellent link. Thanks for sharing!!

Jeny

[Aquawind]

He was not an idiot..It was over 100 years ago..Everything was more difficult and much was unknown. That's rude to judge like that in hindsite..imho

Geesh look at the TX all clear statement 3 days out..That is borderline idiocy with today's technology and experience.

Welcome to the board patgaz.

Paul