The storm itself was detected in August of 1900 as a tropical storm and was rated as such when it hit the Caribbean. However, as it entered the Gulf of Mexico it strengthened to a hurricane status and peaked at Category 4 with sustained winds of 145 mph.

This was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history and the storm was so devastating that it was one of the deadliest to affect even Canada. That’s right, it kept on going after hitting landfall and became an extratropical storm that raged its way through the Midwest before hitting New England and Eastern Canada.

The Aftermath of the Great Storm

A seawall for Galveston had been proposed in the late 19th century, but concerns about a raging storm were dismissed as alarmist creating devastating results when a big storm did arrive. Without the protection of a seawall the deaths were somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 people.

The official number was 8,000 with another 30,000 people left homeless. The entire town was devastated. Afterward a seawall would be built, and the entire island raised by 17 feet. Economically, this was the end of Galveston as the premier port in Texas as investors moved to Houston.