Of course I have heard of Galveston (I am sure I first heard of it in the song!) and I knew that there had been an horrific hurricane there once. Now I know a lot more! There were times when I found the first part of this book a bit slow - there is a lot of weather information. Still I was interested in the background of the town and the background of meteorology. I would have thought in 1900 it was more a matter of looking out the window to see if it was raining. Interspersed with this introduction to the town and weather are lots of personal stories of some of the people who lived there. My stomach was in my throat as I read about the harrowing events. There are no accurate records but it has been estimated that 10,000 people died in that storm. Clara Barton came to Galveston after the tragedy to help out with the Red Cross. It was her final time in that role (of course she was 78 at the time so it was time to retire).
One little tidbit that I jumped on was the story of Indianola, Texas. It had been destroyed by a hurricane in 1875, they rebuilt the town but in 1886 another hurricane hit. It was followed by a fire and that was it. Indianola, Texas is now just an historic landmark.
Click here to check our catalog for availability.
No comments:
Post a Comment