Death from the Sea

by Herbert Molloy Mason Jr.

Our Greatest Natural Disaster: The Galveston Hurricane of 1900

Estimates vary, and the exact figure will never be known, but it is certain that three times as many lives were lost in the storm and flood which struck Galveston, Texas, in September of 1900 as in any other natural disaster to befall the United States before or since. Some estimates run as high as 8,000 people killed. The Johnstown flood claimed 2,209 victims and the San Francisco earthquake cost 452 lives.

This anatomy of disaster in an American town is based on survivors’ accounts and official records. It is told in a minute-by-minute description of how the customarily gentle sea breezes mounted to gales and then winds of unprecedented violence, causing the ocean to rise up and fall upon the beautiful and unsuspecting port city.

Walls of water swept over some, 1,500 acres. Nearly 4,000 homes were destroyed. The long bridge connecting Galveston with the mainland was washed away, leaving the “Queen City” a derelict island harboring its dead.

Heroics were almost commonplace during the destruction, and the moral of the story is that a city cannot be killed unless it wants to die. Galveston is very much alive today and this book shows why.

Herbert Molloy Mason (1927-2013) was a noted writer of military history, and has written sixteen books, including The Lafayette Escadrille and The Rise of the Luftwaffe. He lived in San Antonio, Texas with his wife who was an artist.

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Herbert M. Mason, Jr was a WWII veteran of the United States Marine Corp, journalist and military historian. During his lifetime he wrote fourteen books on topics as varied as the rise of the German Luftwaffe to Ants.

Reviews

[Verity Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good broad work

This account is broader than some, and contains plenty of individual accounts. It covers more accounts from people in peripheral areas. It also goes into more detail about the aftermath than any book I have yet read. It is very generous to Issac Cline.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read on the Gavelston Hurricane of 1900. The book did contain all the facts, but I wish it had more on human conflicts. Still, a good read.

[Danice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book about the devastating hurricane which hit Galveston, Texas in 1900. The book offers a well researched history of the island, its meteorological history and the 1900 hurricane. Especially interesting is how the author researched the aftermath of the storm. He clearly and concisely provides quotes from sources describing how claims documenting looting the ruins and robbing, and at times, the dead, brought out the deep prejudices of the South. The aftermath of the hurricane is described in horrific quotations of blacks and foreigners shot and killed by the martial lawmen, claims of pockets full of severed fingers and ears bearing valuable jewelry found on the guilty men before they were executed on sight. With hurricanes like Katrina, Sandy and Maria being more well known, the history of the 1900 Galveston hurricane is even more important now than ever.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contained many of the same stories as in "Isaac's Storm", although not nearly as much about the Weather Service.