Why I’ve had storms on my mind, I don’t know. I
suppose I can blame Carra Copelin and her book MATELYN AND THE TEXAS RANGER,
which includes a hurricane. In addition, I have another friend who works for
the Sisters of Charity, and the two influences collided. (Yes, pun intended.)
At the end of the 19th century, the city of
Galveston, Texas, was a booming town with a population of 36,000 residents. Its
position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made
it the center of trade and the biggest city in the state of Texas. Before the
Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was considered to be a beautiful and prestigious
city and was known as the "Ellis Island of the West" and the
"Wall Street of the Southwest".
As Galveston entered the new millennium, it was one
of the wealthiest cities per capita in the United States and appeared to be poised for greatness.
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| Galveston in the 1890s |
And then one weekend in September in 1900, the same
proximity to the sea that had made the community grow and prosper as a port
city, changed Galveston Island forever. On Sept. 8, Galveston became the
victim of a powerful hurricane of such destructive force that whole blocks of
homes were completely swept away.
WORST
NATURAL DISASTER IN NATION’S HISTORY
Striking Galveston on Sept. 8, 1900, the Great Storm
is considered the worst natural disaster in the nation's history. In Galveston
on the rain-darkened and gusty morning of Saturday, September 8, 1900,
newspaper readers saw, on page three of the local Galveston Daily News, an early-morning account of a tropical
hurricane prowling the Gulf of Mexico.
On the previous day Galveston had been
placed under a storm warning by the central office of the Weather Bureau (now
the National Weather Service) in Washington, D.C. A one-column headline
announced, "Storm in the Gulf." Under that, a small subhead proclaimed,
"Great Damage Reported on Mississippi and Louisiana Coasts-Wires
Down-Details Meagre." The story, only one paragraph long, had been sent
out of New Orleans at 12:45 A.M. that same day, but it added nothing to the
information presented in the headlines. Additional details were unavailable
"owing to the prostration of the wires."
Beginning early on the morning of September 8, the winds began coming in strongly from the north. Despite the opposing
winds, the tides of the southern gulf waters also rose, sending large crashing
waves upon the beach front. During the afternoon the winds and rain continued to
increase. The tides of the gulf rose higher and higher with fierce waves
crashing on the beach, sending flood waters into the residential areas.
More than 6,000 (some estimates say as many as 8,000
to 12,000) men, women and children lost their lives. Among the dead were 10
sisters and 90 children from the St. Mary's Orphans Asylum, operated by the
Sisters of Charity. The sisters also operated St. Mary's Infirmary in
Galveston. It was the first Catholic hospital in the state, established in
1867.
SISTERS
OF CHARITY AND ST. MARY’S ORPHANS ASYLUM
The sisters were called to Galveston by Catholic
Bishop Claude M. Dubuis in 1866 to care for the many sick and infirm in what
was the major port of entry for Texas. They were also charged with caring for
orphaned children, most of whom had lost parents during yellow fever epidemics
prevalent in coastal areas of the time.
At first the Sisters of Charity opened an orphanage
within the hospital, but later moved it three miles to the west on beach-front
property on the former estate of Captain Farnifalia Green at what is now 69th and Seawall Boulevard. The location seemed ideal as it was far from town and
the threat of yellow fever.
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| St. Mary's Orphans Asylum |
Sister Elizabeth Ryan, one of 10 sisters at St.
Mary's Orphanage, had come into town that morning to collect food. Despite
pleas from Mother Gabriel, the assistant superior at St. Mary's Infirmary, for
her to stay at the hospital until the storm passed, Sister Elizabeth said she
had to return to the orphanage. Sister Elizabeth had the provisions in the
wagon and said if she did not return, the children would have no supper.
Warning:
Get your hankies ready now.
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| St. Mary's Orphans Asylum circa 1899 |
St. Mary's Orphanage consisted of two large
two-story dormitories just off the beach behind a row of tall sand dunes that
were supported by salt cedar trees. The buildings had balconies facing the
gulf. According to one of the boys at the orphanage, the rising tides began
eroding the sand dunes "as though they were made of flour." Soon the
waters of the gulf reached the dormitories.
The Sisters at the orphanage brought all of the
children into the girls' dormitory because it was the newer and stronger of the
two. In the first floor chapel, they tried to calm the children by having them
sing the old French hymn "Queen of the Waves." The waters continued
to rise.
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| Sister Vincent Cottier and two children |
Taking the children to the second story of the
dormitory, the Sisters had Henry Esquior, a worker, collect clothesline rope.
Again they had the boys and girls sing "Queen of the Waves." One of
the boys later said that the children were very frightened and the Sisters were
very brave.
By 6 p.m. the wind was gusting past 100 miles per
hour and the waters of the gulf and bay had met, completely flooding the city.
Residents climbed to the second stories, attics and even roofs of their homes.
Flying debris struck many who dared venture outside their homes.
Around 7:30 p.m. the main tidal surge struck the
south shore. Houses along the beach front were lifted from their foundations
and sent like battering rams into other houses. Houses fell upon houses.
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| Four-block area of town after storm |
At St. Mary's Infirmary the flood waters filled the
first floor. From the second story balcony, the sisters pulled refugees in as
they floated by and brought them into the over-crowded hospital. Almost every
window in the facility was broken out, sending the wind and rain whipping
through the building.
At the orphanage, the children and sisters heard the
crash of the boys’ dormitory as it collapsed and was carried away by the flood
waters. The sisters cut the clothesline rope into sections and used it to tie
the children to the cinctures which they wore around their waists. Each Sister
tied to herself between six to eight children. Some of the older children
climbed onto the roof of the orphanage.
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| One of the sisters with children nearby |
Eventually the dormitory building that had been the
sanctuary for the children and sisters was lifted from its foundation. The
bottom fell out and the roof came crashing down, trapping those inside.
Only three boys from the orphanage survived: William
Murney, Frank Madera and Albert Campbell. Miraculously all three ended up
together in a tree in the water. After floating for more than a day, they were
eventually able to make their way into town where they told the sisters what
had happened at the orphanage.
One of the boys remembered a sister tightly holding
two small children in her arms, promising not to let go. The sisters were
buried wherever they were found, with the children still attached to them. Two
of the sisters were found together across the bay on the Mainland. One of them
was tightly holding two small children in her arms. Even in death she had kept
her promise not to let go.
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| Storm's damage downtown |
Each year on September 8th, the members
of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word sing "Queen
of the Waves." The song provides the sisters and all those who co-minister
with them an opportunity to pause and remember all who lost their lives in a
devastating hurricane almost a century ago.
DEATH
AND DESTRUCTION
The death and destruction in Galveston was unbelievable.
Thousands were dead and their bodies were littered throughout the city. It
would be months before some would be uncovered. A complete list of the dead was
never made. Stench from the corpses was detectable for miles. The bodies were
piled on barges and towed out for burial at sea, but most washed back up on
shores. Funeral pyres were started and burned for days.
Estimates are that the winds reached 150 mph or
maybe even 200. The tidal surge has been estimated at from 15 to 20 feet. Whole
blocks of homes had been completely destroyed, leaving little more than a brick
or two. In all more than 3,600 homes had been destroyed.
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| Only beach house for miles |
A great wall of debris wrapped itself around St.
Mary's Infirmary on the eastern end of the city and then zigzagged through the
city to the beach. At places the wall was two stories tall. Inside this great
wall were destroyed houses, pieces of furniture, pots, pans, cats, dogs and
people.
At St. Mary's Infirmary, there was no food or water.
While the main hospital building was still standing, the adjacent structures,
had been destroyed. The hospital was packed with those who were injured and
those who had nowhere else to go.
Two of the Sisters walked about the area until they
found crackers and cookies that had been soaked in the water. They brought them
back to the hospital. Over a fire they built in the street, they dried the food
and served it to those in need at the infirmary.
One year later, the Sisters opened a new orphanage.
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| Searching debris |
On Sept. 8, 1994, a Texas Historical Marker was
placed at 69th Street and Seawall Boulevard, marking the site of the former
orphanage. The descendants of two of the survivors, Will Murny and Frank Madera,
returned to participate in the marker dedication. As part of the ceremony,
"Queen of the Waves" was again sung at the same time and place as it
was during the Great 1900 Storm. And, as it continues to be each Sept. 8 by the
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
ENGINEERING
MARVEL
To prevent future storms from causing destruction
like that of the 1900 hurricane, many improvements to the island were made. The
first 3 miles of the Galveston Seawall, 17-foot high, were built beginning in
1902 under the direction of Henry Martyn Robert. An all-weather bridge was
constructed to the mainland to replace the ones destroyed in the storm.
The most dramatic effort to protect the city was its
raising. Dredged sand was used to raise the city of Galveston by as much as 17
feet above its previous elevation. Over 2,100 buildings were raised in the
process, including the 3,000-ton St. Patrick's Church. The seawall and raising
of the island were jointly named a National Historical Civil Engineering
Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2001.
In 1915, a storm similar in strength and track to
the 1900 hurricane struck Galveston. The 1915 storm brought a 12-ft storm surge
which tested the new seawall. Although 53 people on Galveston Island lost their
lives in the 1915 storm, this was a great reduction from the thousands who died
in 1900.
Sources:
Wikipedia
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ydg02
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/galveston.htm
http://www.1900storm.com/orphanage.html (Linda Macdonald, Director of Communications, Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Houston)
