Sixty years ago today- July 27, 1943- a large hurricane struck the residents of Galveston. Because this nation was in the midst of WWII, and because of rumors of German U-boats lurking in the Gulf of Mexico, no information on the storm was released to the public. The storm caught residents unaware and completely unprepared.
Twenty people were killed and about 4,000 left homeless in Galveston County. Damage estimates ranged as high as $17 million — more than $177 million when converted to current values.
A report in The Daily News the day after the storm described the scene: “Strand from 25th Street east looked as though it were a street in London, Rotterdam or Warsaw after a heavy German air raid.”
The storm crossed the Bolivar Peninsula and blew through Galveston Bay before making landfall near Kemah. Winds were measured at 61 mph at 11:30 a.m., but the hurricane didn’t reach its peak until early afternoon. The weather service’s wind gauge was blown away about 1:30 p.m. Wind speed estimates ranged from 85 mph to more than 100 mph, the north county taking the brunt of the watery gale.
“There is not a single house in San Leon and in Clifton that is not damaged,” then Bacliff resident J.C. Franklin was quoted as saying. “My house and three others were smashed to bits by the heavy wind. The Casino at Clifton, which stood near the beach, was blown out into the water and wrecked.”
In this era of Doppler radar and the ability to predict the weather on almost a minute-by-minute basis, it's difficult to comprehend not knowing about an approaching hurricane, much less being unprepared for it. Today, we often know about the formation of a storm a week in advance.
In this storm, 2-3 feet of water flooded the streets in downtown Galveston. Ninety percent of structures in Texas City sustained damage. The National Weather Service's wind gauge was destroyed. And no one saw it coming.
Today, when instant notification is not just the norm but the expectation, we would do well to remember that there was a time when found out about a hurricane about the time it slammed ashore. Thankfully, we do not have to deal with that reality.
Of course, if you're looking for a hurricane by which all others should be measured, take a look here.
