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175-521: The island is about 27 miles (43.5 km) long and no more than 3 miles (4.8 km) wide at its widest point. The island is oriented generally northeast-southwest, with the Gulf of Mexico on the east and south, West Bay on the west, and Galveston Bay on the north. The island's main access point from the mainland is Interstate Highway 45 which crosses the Galveston Causeway that crosses West Bay on

350-503: A fair were ripped. At another fair in New Milford , fifteen tents collapsed, forcing closure of the fair. Along the coast, the storm produced abnormally high tides, with tides reaching their highest heights in six years at Westbrook . Water reached the bulkheads and remained there for several hours. In Rhode Island , the storm left damage in the vicinity of Providence . Telegraph and telephone services were interrupted, but not to such

525-481: A famous world map was produced. In 1506 Hernán Cortés took part in the conquest of Hispaniola and Cuba, receiving a large estate of land and indigenous slaves for his effort. In 1510 he accompanied Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , an aide of the governor of Hispaniola, in his expedition to conquer Cuba. In 1518 Velázquez put him in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. In 1517 Francisco Hernández de Córdoba discovered

700-578: A hypoxic dead zone that runs east–west along the Texas–Louisiana coastline. In July 2008, researchers reported that between 1985 and 2008, the area roughly doubled in size. It was 8,776 square miles (22,730 km ) in 2017, the largest ever recorded. Poor agricultural practices in the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico have led to a tremendous increase of nitrogen and phosphorus in neighboring marine ecosystems, which has resulted in algae blooms and

875-476: A magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred about 250 miles (400 km) west-southwest of Anna Maria, Florida . The quake was reportedly felt from Louisiana to Florida. There were no reports of damage or injuries. Items were knocked from shelves and seiches were observed in swimming pools in parts of Florida. The earthquake was described by the USGS as an intraplate earthquake , the largest and most widely felt recorded in

1050-412: A severe thunderstorm passing over on August 30, with lower barometric pressures and 2.6 in (66.0 mm) of rain on the island. In Puerto Rico, the storm produced winds up to 43 mph (69 km/h) at San Juan . In Jamaica, heavy rainfall from the storm caused all rivers to swell. Floodwaters severely damaged banana plantations and washed away miles of railroads. Damage estimates ranged in

1225-523: A 23-year-old man, crushing his skull and killing him instantly, while two others were knocked unconscious. Awnings and signs on many buildings broke and the canvas roofing at the Fire Department headquarters was blown off. Closer to the waterfront, along the Battery seawall , waves and tides were reported to be some of the highest in recent memory of the fishermen and sailors. Spray and debris were thrown over

1400-545: A Category 4 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson scale . That day, the Weather Bureau realized that the storm was continuing west-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico, rather than turning northward over Florida and the East Coast as it had predicted. However, Weather Bureau director Willis Moore insisted that the cyclone was not of hurricane intensity. The hurricane weakened slightly on September 8 and recurved to

1575-407: A German steamer, ran aground at Daiquirí . A telegraph from the mayor of Trinidad , who was asking for assistance from the U.S. occupation government , indicated that the storm destroyed all crops and left many people destitute. The Great Galveston hurricane made landfall on September 8, 1900, near Galveston, Texas . It had estimated winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) at landfall, making

1750-402: A brigantine was also beached at Cape Breton Island . Another schooner, known as Greta , capsized offshore Cape Breton Island near Low Point , with the fate of the crew being unknown. On Prince Edward Island , a few barns, a windmill, and a lobster factory were destroyed. Falling trees downed about 40 electrical wires. A house suffered damage after its own chimney fell and collapsed through

1925-420: A calculation that takes into account changes in inflation , wealth, and population. In comparison, the costliest United States hurricanes – Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 – both caused about US$ 125 billion in damage. The hurricane occurred before the practice of assigning official code names to tropical storms was instituted, and thus it is commonly referred to under

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2100-540: A cottage with three 12 by 12 ft (3.7 by 3.7 m) rooms. By March 1901, 1,073 cottages were built and 1,109 homes had been repaired. Winifred Bonfils , a young journalist working for William Randolph Hearst , was the first reporter on the line at the hurricane's ground zero in Galveston. She delivered an exclusive set of reports and Hearst sent relief supplies by train. By September 12, Galveston received its first post-storm mail. The next day, basic water service

2275-695: A documentary about the project, short videos and video updates during the expedition. Video footage from the ROV was an integral part of this outreach and used extensively in the Mystery Mardi Gras Shipwreck documentary. On July 30, 1942, the Robert E. Lee , captained by William C. Heath, was torpedoed by the German submarine  U-166 . She was sailing southeast of the entrance to the Mississippi River when

2450-493: A fierce wind gust. Orchards in the city suffered near complete loss and many shade trees were also damaged. At least a few chimneys toppled and several others were left leaning. A bathhouse at Harvard University lost a portion of its tin roof and its copper cornices . At Cape Cod , a wind speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) was observed at Highland Light in North Truro . Waves breached the sand dunes at multiple locations along

2625-481: A hurricane. In the eastern Gulf of Mexico on September 6, the ship Louisiana encountered the hurricane, and its captain, T. P. Halsey, estimated that the system had wind speeds of 100 mph (160 km/h). The hurricane continued to strengthen significantly while heading west-northwestward across the Gulf. On September 7, the system reached its peak intensity with estimated sustained wind speeds of 145 mph (235 km/h), which made it equivalent to

2800-487: A lack of available oxygen. Occurrences of masculinization and estrogen suppression were observed as a result. An October 2007 study of the Atlantic croaker found a disproportioned sex ratio of 61% males to 39% females in hypoxic sites. This was compared with a 52% to 48% male-female ratio found in reference sites, showing an impairment of reproductive output for fish populations inhabiting hypoxic coastal zones. According to

2975-513: A large extent. Some small crafts in Narragansett Bay received damage, while apple orchards experienced slight losses. Lightning produced by the storm ignited several brush fires in Massachusetts , particularly in the southeastern portions of the state, with winds spreading the flames. In Plymouth and other nearby towns, some residents evacuated from the fires by boat. Most cottages around

3150-475: A large scale from many of the bays and sounds. Other important industries along the coast include shipping, petrochemical processing and storage, military use, paper manufacture, and tourism. The gulf's warm water temperature can feed powerful Atlantic hurricanes causing extensive human death and other destruction as happened with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the Atlantic, a hurricane will draw up cool water from

3325-675: A loss of thousands of dollars. One person died in Niagara Falls , when a man attempted to remove debris from a pump station, but he was swept away into the river instead. Maximum rainfall in Canada reached 3.9 in (100 mm) in Percé, Quebec . In Nova Scotia , damage was reported in the Halifax area. A plethora of fences and trees fell over, while windows shattered and a house under construction collapsed. Two schooners were driven ashore at Sydney and

3500-436: A man was struck by falling timber. A train heading for Galveston left Houston on the morning of September 8 at 9:45 a.m. CST (15:45 UTC). It found the tracks washed out, and passengers were forced to transfer to a relief train on parallel tracks to complete their journey. Even then, debris on the track slowed the train's progress to a crawl. The 95 travelers on the train from Beaumont found themselves at

3675-445: A near or complete loss of all buildings or homes, including Alta Loma , Alvin , Angleton , Brazoria , Brookshire , Chenango , El Campo , Pearland , and Richmond . Throughout Texas – in areas other than Galveston – at least $ 3 million in damage occurred to cotton crops, $ 75,000 to telegraph and telephone poles, and $ 60,000 to railroads. At Alvin, 8.05 in (204 mm) of rain fell on September 8,

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3850-631: A northward curve into Florida and that it would eventually turn northeastward and emerge over the Atlantic. As a result, the central office of the Weather Bureau issued a storm warning in Florida from Cedar Key to Miami on September 5. By the following day, a hurricane warning was in effect along the coast from Cedar Key to Savannah , Georgia , while storm warnings were displayed from Charleston , South Carolina , to Kitty Hawk , North Carolina , as well as from Pensacola, Florida , to New Orleans , Louisiana . Cuban forecasters adamantly disagreed with

4025-468: A number of telephone wires snapped, while many apples, pears, and plums were blown off the trees. Additional damage to fruit and shade trees occurred in Middlebury and Winooski . The city of Burlington experienced its worst storm in many years. Winds downed all telephone and telegraph wires, whereas many trees had severe damage. Some homes were deroofed. In New Hampshire , the storm left wind damage in

4200-508: A period of 16 hours. Farther north, several washouts occurred, especially in the northern areas of the state. A bridge, along with a few train cars, were swept away during a washout in Cold Spring . In Michigan , the storm produced winds around 60 mph (97 km/h) at Muskegon . Tides from Lake Michigan were the highest in several months. According to The Times Herald , the city of Marshall experienced "the severest windstorm of

4375-485: A population of 36,891 people in Galveston. Although a decline from the 1900 Census, the population loss of thousands of people was nearly reversed. In the months prior to the hurricane, valet Charles F. Jones and lawyer Albert T. Patrick began conspiring to murder wealthy businessman William Marsh Rice in order to obtain his wealth. Patrick fabricated Rice's legal will with the assistance of Jones. Rice's properties in Galveston suffered extensive damage during

4550-452: A seawall was not needed due to his belief that a strong hurricane would not strike the island. As a result, the seawall was not built, and development activities on the island actively increased its vulnerability to storms. Sand dunes along the shore were cut down to fill low areas in the city, removing what little barrier there was to the Gulf of Mexico. On September 4, the Weather Bureau's Galveston office began receiving warnings from

4725-422: A serious threat to marine life and adjacent coastal wetlands and to the livelihoods of Gulf Coast shrimpers and fishermen. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Sally Brice O'Hare stated that the U.S. government will be "employing booms, skimmers, chemical dispersants and controlled burns" to combat the oil spill. By May 1 the oil spill cleanup efforts were underway but hampered by rough seas and the "tea like" consistency of

4900-561: A small tropical cyclone to the southwest of Saint Croix . During that day, the system passed to the south of Puerto Rico before it made landfall near Baní , Dominican Republic, early on September 2. Moving west-northwestward, the storm crossed the island of Hispaniola and entered into the Windward Passage near Saint-Marc , Haiti, several hours later. The system made landfall on Cuba near Santiago de Cuba during September 3, before it moved slowly west-northwestward across

5075-705: A time before the American Civil War was the largest cotton shipping port in the world and the second-largest port for immigration in the United States. In the mid-19th century, it was a major port of entry for the many Germans who entered the state. During the Civil War, the Union army seized control of the island from the South for a few months during early 1863. Confederate forces commanded by John B. Magruder expelled them from

5250-857: A variety of descriptive names. Typical names for the storm include the Galveston hurricane of 1900 , the Great Galveston hurricane , and, especially in older documents and publications, the Galveston Flood . It is often referred to by Galveston locals as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm . Portions of South Florida experienced tropical storm-force winds, with a sustained wind speed of 48 mph (77 km/h) in Jupiter and 40 mph (64 km/h) in Key West . The hurricane left "considerable damage" in

5425-627: A woman inadvertently touched a downed electrical wire obscured by debris. Several nearby resorts received extensive damage. At Woodlawn Beach, several dozens of small boats and a pier were destroyed. Nearly all vessels owned by the Buffalo Canoe Club suffered severe damage or destruction at Crystal Beach. A toboggan slide and a restaurant were also destroyed. Losses in Crystal Beach reached about $ 5,000. Heavy crop losses occurred over western New York, with fallen apples and peaches completely covering

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5600-573: Is an excellent example of a passive margin . The continental shelf is quite wide at most points along the coast, most notably at the Florida and Yucatán Peninsulas. The shelf is exploited for its oil by means of offshore drilling rigs, most of which are situated in the western gulf and in the Bay of Campeche. Another important commercial activity is fishing; major catches include red snapper , amberjack , tilefish , swordfish , and various grouper , as well as shrimp and crabs. Oysters are also harvested on

5775-697: Is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Florida between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. Because of its narrow connection to the Atlantic Ocean, the gulf experiences very small tidal ranges . The size of the gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km (620,000 sq mi). Almost half of the basin consists of shallow continental shelf waters. The volume of water in

5950-500: Is credited with issuing a hurricane warning without permission from the Bureau's central office, author Erik Larson points to his earlier insistence that a seawall was unnecessary and his notion that an intense hurricane could not strike the island, with Cline even considering it "simply an absurd delusion" to believe otherwise. Further, according to Larson, no other survivors are known to have corroborated these accounts. Antigua reported

6125-404: Is four to five times saltier than the rest of the water. The first exploration of the site was unmanned, using Hercules and in 2015 a team of three used the deep-submergence vehicle Alvin . The site cannot sustain any kind of life other than bacteria , mussels with a symbiotic relationship , tube worms and certain kinds of shrimp . It has been called the "Jacuzzi of Despair". Because it

6300-405: Is likely that much of South Florida experienced tropical storm-force winds, though mostly minor damage occurred. Hurricane-force winds and storm surge inundated portions of southern Louisiana , though the cyclone left no significant structural damage or fatalities in the state. The hurricane brought strong winds and storm surge to a large portion of east Texas, with Galveston suffering the brunt of

6475-569: Is the deadliest natural disaster to strike the United States. This loss of life can be attributed to the fact that officials for the Weather Bureau in Galveston brushed off the reports and they did not realize the threat. More than US$ 34 million in damage occurred throughout the United States, with about US$ 30 million in Galveston County, Texas , alone. If a similar storm struck in 2010, damage would total approximately US$ 104.33 billion (2010 USD), based on normalization,

6650-521: Is warmer than the surrounding water (65 °F or 18 °C compared to 39 °F or 4 °C), animals are attracted to it but cannot survive once they enter it. The Gulf of Mexico is 41 percent continental slope , 32 percent continental shelf , and 24 percent abyssal plain with the greatest depth of 12,467 feet in the Sigsbee Deep . Seven main areas are given as: As early as the Maya civilization ,

6825-570: The Deepwater Horizon oil platform, located in the Mississippi Canyon about 40 miles (64 km) off the Louisiana coast, suffered a catastrophic explosion ; it sank a day and a half later. It was in the process of being sealed with concrete for temporary abandonment, to avoid environmental problems. Although initial reports indicated that relatively little oil had leaked, by April 24 it

7000-527: The Galveston Daily News that it would be impossible for a hurricane of significant strength to strike Galveston Island. A quarter of a century earlier, the nearby town of Indianola on Matagorda Bay was undergoing its own boom. Then in 1875, a powerful hurricane blew through and nearly destroyed the town. Indianola was rebuilt, though a second hurricane in 1886 caused most of the town's residents to move elsewhere. Many Galveston residents took

7175-409: The 1875 Indianola hurricane . Winds and storm surge caused severe damage to rice crops, with at least 25% destroyed throughout the state. The community of Pointe à la Hache experienced a near-total loss of rice crops. Farther east, roads were flooded by storm surge in the communities of Gretna and Harvey near New Orleans, leaving the streets impassable via horses. Winds downed telegraph lines in

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7350-463: The 1900 Atlantic hurricane season , it left between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000. Most of these deaths occurred in and near Galveston, Texas , after the storm surge inundated the coastline and the island city with 8 to 12 ft (2.4 to 3.7 m) of water. As of 2024, it remains the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, behind Hurricane Fifi of 1974. In addition to

7525-617: The Bolivar Peninsula waiting for the ferry that would carry them to the island. When it arrived, the high seas forced the ferry captain to give up on his attempt to dock. The train crew attempted to return the way they had come, but rising water blocked the train's path. Ten refugees from the Beaumont train sought shelter at the Point Bolivar lighthouse with 190 residents of Port Bolivar who were already there. The 85 who stayed with

7700-507: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement ) to help predict the potential impacts of future oil/gas explorations. Since 1979, the specimens have been deposited in the national collections of the National Museum of Natural History. The major environmental threats to the gulf are agricultural runoff and oil drilling . There are 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells beneath

7875-568: The Galveston Movement . Cohen, Schiff, and others created the movement to draw Jewish immigrants away from the crowded area along the East Coast and toward cities farther west, such as Galveston. Although approximately 10,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in Galveston during this period, few settled in the city or the island, but about one-fourth of them remained in Texas. The 1910 Census reported

8050-903: The Galveston News , the Galveston chamber of commerce, a relief committee, and multiple insurance companies indicated that the storm caused just over $ 17 million in damage throughout Galveston, including about $ 8.44 million to residential properties, $ 500,000 to churches, $ 656,000 to wharves and shipping properties, $ 580,000 to manufacturing plants, $ 397,000 to mercantile buildings, $ 1.4 million to store merchandise, $ 670,000 to railroads and telegraph and telephone services, $ 416,000 to products in shipment, $ 336,000 to municipality properties, $ 243,000 to county properties, and $ 3.16 million to United States government properties. The total also included $ 115,000 in damage to schools and approximately $ 100,000 in damage to roads. The area of destruction – an area in which nothing remained standing after

8225-428: The Gulf of Saint Lawrence early the following day. After crossing Newfoundland and entering the far northern Atlantic hours later, the remnants of the hurricane weakened and were last noted near Iceland on September 15 where the storm finally dissipated. The city of Galveston , formally founded in 1839, had weathered numerous storms, all of which the city survived with ease. In the late 19th century, Galveston

8400-664: The Marathon Uplift in west Texas and the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma , and to Alabama where it linked directly to the Appalachian Mountains . It was created by the collision of continental plates that formed Pangaea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, this mountain range was breached in the late Cretaceous by the formation of the Mississippi Embayment . The rifting that created

8575-632: The Mardi Gras sank around the early 19th century about 35 mi (56 km) off the coast of Louisiana in 4,000 feet (1,200 m) of water. She is believed to have been a privateer or trader. The shipwreck, whose real identity remains a mystery, lay forgotten at the bottom of the sea until it was discovered in 2002 by an oilfield inspection crew working for the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company (OGGC). In 2007 an expedition led by Texas A&M University and funded by OGGC under an agreement with

8750-656: The Maumee River and Maumee Bay to such an extent that they were impassable by vessels due to low water levels. A number of vessels were buried in mud several feet deep, while about 20 others were beached. Of the many cities in New York affected by the remnants of the hurricane, Buffalo was among the hardest hit. There, winds peaked at 78 mph (126 km/h), downing hundreds of electrical, telegraph, and telephone wires, while numerous trees toppled and some branches fell onto roadways. An oil derrick blew away and landed on

8925-557: The Mesozoic and all of the Cenozoic further depressed the underlying crust to its current position about 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi) below sea level. Particularly during the Cenozoic, a time of relative stability for the coastal zones, thick clastic wedges built out the continental shelf along the northwestern and northern margins of the basin. To the east, the stable Florida Platform

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9100-562: The Midwestern United States , New England , and Eastern Canada before reaching the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on September 13. After striking Newfoundland later that day, the extratropical storm entered the far North Atlantic Ocean and weakened, with the remnants last observed near Iceland on September 15. The great storm brought flooding and severe thunderstorms to portions of the Caribbean, especially Cuba and Jamaica. It

9275-543: The National Response Center , the oil industry has thousands of minor accidents in the Gulf of Mexico every year. In June 1979, the Ixtoc I oil platform in the Bay of Campeche suffered a blowout leading to a catastrophic explosion, which resulted in a massive oil spill that continued for nine months before the well was finally capped. This was the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to date. On April 20, 2010,

9450-647: The Palm Beach area, according to The New York Times . Many small boats were torn from their moorings and capsized. The bulkhead of the pier was washed away, while docks and several seawalls were damaged. Rainfall in the state peaked at 5.7 in (140 mm) in Hypoluxo . High winds in North Florida downed telegraph lines between Jacksonville and Pensacola . In Mississippi , the city of Pass Christian recorded winds of 58 mph (93 km/h). Tides produced by

9625-657: The United States Weather Bureau (as it was then called) disagreed with this forecast, as they expected the system to recurve and make landfall in Florida before impacting the American East Coast . An area of high pressure over the Florida Keys ultimately moved the system northwestward into the Gulf of Mexico, where favorable conditions such as warm sea surface temperatures allowed the storm to intensify into

9800-570: The older settlement on the Yucatan Peninsula . For a few years, the island and the bay were their base for piracy and smuggling in slaves after the United States had ended its international slave trade in 1808. After attacking an American ship, Lafitte was forced in 1821 to leave by the US Navy. With the advent of Mexican independence in 1821, and the Texas Revolution soon after in 1836,

9975-522: The Anglo-American population in the Republic of Texas began to grow rapidly. The island quickly became Texas' primary port and a destination for immigration. Following Texas' annexation by the United States in 1845, the island's population soon surpassed the population of San Antonio . It became the state's major population center, a title it would hold until nearly the end of the 19th century. Galveston for

10150-468: The Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. Seafloor spreading stopped at the end of the Jurassic, about 145–150 million years ago. During the late Jurassic through early Cretaceous, the basin experienced a period of cooling and subsidence of the crust underlying it. The subsidence was the result of a combination of crustal stretching, cooling, and loading. Initially,

10325-486: The Atlantic Ocean. However, this is not completely certain because of the limited observational methods available to contemporary meteorologists, with ship reports being the only reliable tool for observing hurricanes. The first formal sighting of the tropical storm occurred on August 27, about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) east of the Windward Islands , when a ship encountered an area of unsettled weather. Over

10500-422: The Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the opening basin to create an enclosed marginal sea. The subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt and associated anhydrite evaporites . During the late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the basin and progressed to the point that seafloor spreading and formation of oceanic crust occurred. At this point, sufficient circulation with

10675-473: The Beach". In the first two weeks following the storm, approximately 17,000 people resided in these tents, vacant storerooms, or public buildings. Others constructed so-called "storm lumber" homes, using salvageable material from the debris to build shelter. The building committee, with a budget of $ 450,000, opened applications for money to rebuild and repair homes. Accepted applicants were given enough money to build

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10850-581: The Belen Observatory in Havana ;– considered one of the most advanced meteorological institutions in the world at the time – due to tensions in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War . Moore also changed protocol to force local Weather Bureau offices to seek authorization from the central office before issuing storm warnings. Weather Bureau forecasters believed that the storm had begun

11025-571: The Big Long, Gallows , Halfway , and Little Long ponds were reduced to burning coals. In Everett , orchards in the Woodlawn section suffered complete losses of fruit. Two wooden frame building were demolished, while winds also toppled fences throughout the city. Winds damaged many telephone and electric wires in Cambridge . A lineman sent to fix the electrical wires nearly died when a pole snapped during

11200-616: The Bluewater Highway that leads south into the town of Surfside Beach . The residents of the island (the non-tourists) classify themselves in two ways: born on the island (BOI) and islander by choice (IBC). “BOI” is cited in print from at least 1956 and “IBC” is cited in print from 1975. All residents are zoned to Ball High School . Colleges and universities include: At the time of European encounter, Akokisa and Karankawa indigenous Americans lived and camped on what became known as Galveston Island. Earlier cultures likely used it as well for seasonal fishing and hunting. Historians believe

11375-448: The Bureau's central office in Washington, D.C. , that a tropical disturbance had moved northward over Cuba. At the time, they discouraged the use of terms such as "hurricane" or " tornado " to avoid panicking residents in the path of any storm event. The Weather Bureau forecasters had no way of knowing the storm's trajectory, as Weather Bureau director Willis Moore implemented a policy to block telegraph reports from Cuban meteorologists at

11550-401: The Central Relief Committee for Galveston Storm Sufferers (CRC), chaired by Mayor Walter C. Jones. The CRC was composed of subcommittees for specific aspects of relief efforts, including burial of the deceased, correspondence, distribution of food and water, finances, hospitalization and rehabilitation for the injured, and public safety. The dead bodies were so numerous that burying all of them

11725-451: The Dominican Republic as a weak tropical storm on September 2. It weakened slightly while crossing Hispaniola , before re-emerging into the Caribbean Sea later that day. On September 3, the cyclone struck modern-day Santiago de Cuba Province and then slowly drifted along the southern coast of Cuba. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico on September 6, the storm strengthened into a hurricane. Significant intensification followed and

11900-417: The Gulf of Mexico was used as a trade route off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula and present-day Veracruz . Although the Spanish voyage of Christopher Columbus was credited with the discovery of the Americas by Europeans, the ships in his four voyages did not reach the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, the Spanish sailed into the Caribbean around Cuba and Hispaniola . The first alleged European exploration of

12075-436: The Gulf of Mexico was by Amerigo Vespucci in 1497. Vespucci is purported to have followed the coastal land mass of Central America before returning to the Atlantic Ocean via the Straits of Florida between Florida and Cuba. However, this first voyage of 1497 is widely disputed, and many historians doubt that it took place as described. In his letters, Vespucci described this trip, and once Juan de la Cosa returned to Spain,

12250-407: The Light on Cape San Antonio in Cuba, through this island to the meridian of 83°W and to the Northward along this meridian to the latitude of the South point of the Dry Tortugas (24°35'N), along this parallel Eastward to Rebecca Shoal (82°35'W) thence through the shoals and Florida Keys to the mainland at the eastern end of Florida Bay and all the narrow waters between the Dry Tortugas and

12425-459: The Minerals Management Service (now BOEM ) was launched to undertake the deepest scientific archaeological excavation ever attempted at that time to study the site on the seafloor and recover artifacts for eventual public display in the Louisiana State Museum . As part of the project educational outreach Nautilus Productions in partnership with BOEM, Texas A&M University, the Florida Public Archaeology Network and Veolia Environmental produced

12600-568: The North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States ; on the southwest and south by the Mexican states of Tamaulipas , Veracruz , Tabasco , Campeche , Yucatán , and Quintana Roo ; and on the southeast by Cuba . The Southern U.S. states of Texas , Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama , and Florida , which border the gulf on

12775-464: The Saffir–Simpson scale. The lowest recorded barometric pressure was 964.4  mbar (28.48  inHg ), but this was subsequently adjusted to the storm's official lowest measured central pressure of about 936 mbar (27.6 inHg). Few streets in the city escaped wind damage and all streets suffered water damage, with much of the destruction caused by storm surge. All bridges connecting

12950-471: The Southwest". The city's position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade in Texas, and one of the busiest ports in the nation. With this prosperity came a sense of complacency, as residents believed any future storms would be no worse than previous events. In fact, Isaac Cline , director of the Weather Bureau's Galveston office, wrote an 1891 article in

13125-583: The United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, of December 16, 1977. Mexico and United States: Treaty to resolve pending boundary differences and maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the international boundary, of November 23, 1970; Treaty on maritime boundaries between the United States of America and the United Mexican States (Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean), of May 4, 1978, and treaty on

13300-601: The United States, in accordance with Mexico's domestic legislation. On March 13, 2009, the CLCS accepted Mexico's arguments for extending its continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) into the Western Polygon. Since this would extend Mexico's continental shelf well into territory claimed by the United States, however, Mexico and the U.S. would need to enter a bilateral agreement based on international law that delimits their respective claims. A ship now called

13475-641: The Waves to calm them. As the collapse of the building appeared imminent, the sisters used a clothesline to tie themselves to six to eight children. The building eventually collapsed. Only three of the children and none of the sisters survived. The few buildings that survived, mostly solidly built mansions and houses along the Strand District , are today maintained as tourist attractions. Early property damage estimates were placed at $ 25 million. However, itemized estimates from 1901 based on assessments conducted by

13650-440: The Weather Bureau's anemometer was blown off the building shortly after that measurement was recorded. Contemporaneous estimates placed the maximum sustained wind speed at 120 mph (190 km/h). However, survivors reported observing bricks, slate, timbers, and other heavy objects becoming airborne, indicating that winds were likely stronger. Later estimates placed the hurricane at the higher Category 4 classification on

13825-403: The Weather Bureau, saying the hurricane would continue west. One Cuban forecaster predicted the hurricane would continue into central Texas near San Antonio . In Galveston on the morning of September 8, the swells persisted despite only partly cloudy skies. Largely because of the unremarkable weather, few residents saw cause for concern. Few people evacuated across Galveston's bridges to

14000-584: The Yucatán Peninsula. This was the first European encounter with an advanced civilization in the Americas , with solidly built buildings and a complex social organization which they recognized as being comparable to those of the Old World ; they also had reason to expect that this new land would have gold . All of this encouraged two further expeditions, the first in 1518 under the command of Juan de Grijalva , and

14175-544: The area within the seawall. In time, the elevation of the eastern portion of the island was raised by as much as 17 ft (5.2 m). For a complete listing, see list of cities and towns in Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land MSA Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( Spanish : Golfo de México ) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean , mostly surrounded by

14350-764: The attack. One officer, nine crewmen and 15 passengers were lost. The passengers aboard Robert E. Lee were primarily survivors of previous torpedo attacks by German U-boats. The wreck's location was discovered during the C & C Marine survey that located the U-166 . In 2001 the wreck of U-166 was found in 5,000 feet (1,500 m) of water, less than two miles (3.2 km) from where it had attacked Robert E. Lee . Various biota include chemosynthetic communities near cold seeps and non chemosynthetic communities such as bacteria and other micro- benthos , meiofauna , macrofauna , and megafauna (larger organisms such as crabs , sea pens , crinoids , demersal fish , cetaceans , and

14525-474: The basin is roughly 2.4 × 10 cubic kilometers (5.8 × 10 cubic miles). The gulf is one of the most important offshore petroleum production regions in the world, making up one-sixth of the United States' total production. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southeast limit of the Gulf of Mexico as: A line joining Cape Catoche Light ( 21°37′N 87°04′W  /  21.617°N 87.067°W  / 21.617; -87.067 ) with

14700-504: The basin was associated with zones of weakness within Pangaea, including sutures where the Laurentia , South American , and African plates collided to create it. First, there was a late Triassic–early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds . Second, as rifting progressed through early and middle Jurassic times, the continental crust

14875-562: The cape, with water sweeping across a county road at Beach Point in North Truro. A number of fishing boats sank and several fish houses received severe damage. One man drowned in a lake near Andover while canoeing during the storm. Strong winds in Vermont generated rough seas in Lake Champlain . Early reports indicated that a schooner sunk near Adams Ferry with no survivors, but the vessel

15050-543: The captain of the next expedition to Yucatán. In 1523, a treasure ship was wrecked en route at Padre Island , Texas. When word of the disaster reached Mexico City, the viceroy requested a rescue fleet and sent Ángel de Villafañe from Mexico City, marching overland to find the treasure-laden vessels. Villafañe traveled to Pánuco and hired a ship to transport him to the site, which had already been visited from that community. He arrived in time to greet García de Escalante Alvarado (a nephew of Pedro de Alvarado ), commander of

15225-452: The check, arousing suspicion and eventually resulting in their arrests and convictions. Rice's estate was used to open an institute for higher learning in Houston in 1912, which was named Rice University in his honor. Survivors set up temporary shelters in surplus United States Army tents along the shore. They were so numerous that observers began referring to Galveston as the "White City on

15400-436: The city after the storm and never returned. On this basis, the death toll is no less than 6,000, while estimates range up to 12,000. It is believed 8,000 people—20% of the island's population—had lost their lives. Most had drowned or been crushed as the waves pounded the debris that had been their homes hours earlier. A number of fatalities also occurred after strong winds turned debris into projectiles. Many survived

15575-422: The city by 8:30 p.m. (02:30 UTC September 9). The cyclone dropped 9 in (230 mm) of precipitation in Galveston on September 8, setting a record for the most rainfall for any 24-hour period in the month of September in the city's history. The highest measured wind speed was 100 mph (160 km/h) just after 6:15 p.m. on September 8 (00:15  UTC September 9), but

15750-398: The city of Nashua . Winds tore roofs off a number of buildings, with several roofs landing on the streets or telephone wires. Chimneys in each section of the city collapsed; many people narrowly escaped injury or death. In Nashua and the nearby cities of Brookline and Hollis , thousands of dollars in losses occurred to apple crops, described as "practically ruined". The city of Manchester

15925-484: The city of Galveston. The hurricane quickly weakened after moving inland, falling to tropical storm intensity late on September 9. The storm lost tropical characteristics and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over Iowa by 12:00 UTC on September 11. Moving rapidly east-northeastward, the extratropical system re-intensified, becoming the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane over Ontario on September 12. The extratropical remnants reached

16100-412: The city was destroyed, and at least 6,000 people were killed in a few hours. Isaac M. Cline , the meteorologist in charge of the local Weather Bureau, lived on Galveston Island. Cline was aware of a storm in the Gulf based on previous reports from Florida. Although weather conditions were relatively calm on September 7, Cline observed the rough seas and the high waves that seemed to become more ominous by

16275-422: The city were left homeless, out of a total population of nearly 38,000. Portrait and landscape artist Verner Moore White who moved from Galveston the day before the hurricane and survived, had his studio and much of his portfolio destroyed. The Tremont Hotel, where hundreds of people sought refuge during the storm, was severely damaged. All public buildings also suffered damage, including city hall – which

16450-548: The city, one from a live wire and the other was a drowning after a boat capsized in Lake Michigan . In Wisconsin, many weather stations in the northern and central portions of the state recorded at least 1 in (25 mm) of rainfall, including a peak total of 4.25 in (108 mm) in Shawano . Heavy rains fell in parts of Minnesota . The Minneapolis–Saint Paul area recorded 4.23 in (107 mm) of precipitation over

16625-555: The city. A fire broke out at a flour mill in Paris , and the flames were fanned by the storm, resulting in $ 350,000 in damage to the mill and 50 other stores and offices. High winds downed electrical, telegraph, and telephone lines in many areas. Total crop damage in Ontario alone amounted to $ 1 million. Impact to crops was particularly severe at St. Catharines , where many apple, peach, pear, and plum orchards were extensively damaged, with

16800-490: The coast. On April 7, 1528, they spotted land north of what is now Tampa Bay . They turned south and traveled for two days looking for a great harbor the master pilot Miruelo knew of. Sometime during these two days, one of the five remaining ships was lost on the rugged coast, but nothing else is known of it. In 1697 French sailor Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville was chosen by the Minister of Marine to lead an expedition to rediscover

16975-497: The coastline spans 1,680 miles (2,700 km), receiving water from 33 major rivers that drain 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The southwestern and southern shores lie along the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and the northernmost tip of Quintana Roo. The Mexican coastline spans 1,743 miles (2,805 km). On its southeast quadrant, the gulf is bordered by Cuba. It supports major American, Mexican and Cuban fishing industries. The outer margins of

17150-407: The combination of crustal stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km (3.1–4.3 mi) of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional and oceanic crust. Because subsidence occurred faster than sediment could fill it, the basin expanded and deepened. Later, loading of the crust within the basin and adjacent coastal plain by the accumulation of kilometers of sediments during the rest of

17325-469: The cyclone a Category 4 storm on the modern day Saffir–Simpson scale . The hurricane caused great loss of life, with a death toll of between 6,000 and 12,000 people; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of deaths of all Atlantic hurricanes , after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998 . The Galveston hurricane of 1900

17500-640: The cyclone then re-intensified to the equivalence of a tropical storm and continued to strengthen, bringing strong winds to the Midwestern United States . High winds in Missouri toppled a brick wall under construction in St. Joseph , killing a man and severely injuring another. In Illinois , particularly hard hit was the city of Chicago , which experienced wind gusts up to 84 mph (135 km/h). Thousands of dollars in damage occurred to roofs, trees, signs, and windows. Several people were injured and two deaths occurred in

17675-469: The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The disaster did not even spare the buried dead; a number of coffins, including reportedly that of actor-playwright Charles Francis Coghlan who had died in Galveston the previous year, were washed out of the local cemetery to sea by the tidal storm surge. After moving northward from Texas into Oklahoma, the storm produced winds of near 30 mph (48 km/h) at Oklahoma City . The extratropical remnants of

17850-644: The delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi), of June 9, 2000. On December 13, 2007, Mexico submitted information to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) regarding the extension of Mexico's continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Mexico sought an extension of its continental shelf in the Western Polygon based on international law, UNCLOS, and bilateral treaties with

18025-401: The depths and making it less likely that further hurricanes will follow in its wake (warm water being one of the preconditions necessary for their formation). However, the gulf is shallower; when a hurricane passes over the water temperature may drop but it soon rebounds and becomes capable of supporting another tropical storm. From 1970 to 2020, surface temperatures warmed at approximately twice

18200-463: The destruction of Indianola as an object lesson on the threat posed by hurricanes. Galveston is built on a low, flat island, little more than a large sandbar along the Gulf Coast . These residents proposed a seawall be constructed to protect the city, but the majority of the population and the city's government dismissed their concerns. Cline further argued in his 1891 article in the Daily News that

18375-438: The eighth deadliest hurricane to affect Canada. The large discrepancy between the fatality figures is due to the fact that many people were reported missing. Thus, the exact number of deaths is unknown. The city of Galveston was effectively obliterated. With the city in ruins and railroads to the mainland destroyed, the survivors had little to live on until relief arrived. On September 9, Galveston city officials established

18550-472: The explosion destroyed the #3 hold, vented through the B and C decks and damaged the engines, the radio compartment and the steering gear. After the attack she was under escort by USS PC-566 , captained by Lieutenant Commander Herbert G. Claudius, en route to New Orleans . PC-566 began dropping depth charges on a sonar contact, sinking U-166 . The badly damaged Robert E. Lee first listed to port then to starboard and finally sank within about 15 minutes of

18725-542: The extinct Caribbean monk seal ) are living in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, resident Bryde's whales within the gulf were classified as an endemic, unique subspecies and making them as one of the most endangered whales in the world. The Gulf of Mexico yields more fish, shrimp, and shellfish annually than the south and mid-Atlantic , Chesapeake , and New England areas combined. The Smithsonian Institution Gulf of Mexico holdings are expected to provide an important baseline of understanding for future scientific studies on

18900-606: The extratropical remnants of the Galveston hurricane affected six Canadian provinces , resulting in severe damage and extensive loss of life. In Ontario , storm surge in Lake Ontario ranged from 8 to 10 ft (2.4 to 3.0 m), wreaking havoc on vessels, beaching several boats, destroying a number of boats, and setting some others adrift. Many other vessels canceled or postponed their departures. Winds reached as high as 77 mph (124 km/h) in Toronto , breaking windows throughout

19075-513: The first settlement by ethnic Europeans on Galveston Island in 1816. Jao de la Porta was born in Portugal of Jewish parentage; he became a trader in Texas. (De la Porta was named supercargo for the Karankawa Indian trade and later became a full-time trader.) The privateer Jean Lafitte brought his men and followers from Louisiana to the island, naming his settlement Campeche , after

19250-418: The ground at thousands of acres of orchards. Losses reportedly ranged in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The rapidly moving storm was still exhibiting winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) while passing well north of New York City on September 12. The New York Times reported that pedestrian-walking became difficult and attributed one death to the storm. A sign pole, snapped by the wind, landed on

19425-439: The gulf's first such study estimated concentrations that rival the highest globally reported. There are frequent " red tide " algae blooms that kill fish and marine mammals and cause respiratory problems in humans and some domestic animals when the blooms reach close to shore. This has especially been plaguing the southwest and southern Florida coast, from the Florida Keys to north of Pasco County, Florida . The gulf contains

19600-500: The gulf's shoreline is fringed by numerous bays and smaller inlets. Stream that empty into the gulf include the Mississippi River and the Rio Grande in the northern gulf, and the Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers in the southern gulf. The land that forms the gulf's coast, including many long, narrow barrier islands, is almost uniformly low-lying and is characterized by marshes and swamps as well as stretches of sandy beach. The Gulf of Mexico

19775-506: The gulf. These have generally not been checked for potential environmental problems. In 1973 the United States Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the dumping of undiluted chemical waste by manufacturing interests into the gulf, and the military confessed to similar behavior in waters off Horn Island . Microplastics within semi-enclosed seas like the gulf have been reported in high concentrations, and

19950-448: The highest 24-hour total for that city in the month of September. The city suffered nine fatalities and about $ 50,000 in damage. In West Columbia , the storm destroyed the old capitol building of the former Republic of Texas . Eight deaths occurred in the city. In Quintana , the city experienced extensive damage during this storm and a flood in 1899, causing portions of the community to be abandoned. Throughout Brazoria County alone,

20125-412: The hour. He sent a telegram to Washington, D.C., saying he thought a large part of the city was going to be underwater. He predicted a very heavy loss of life. After the hurricane passed, the state and city constructed a seawall around the settled portion of the island. Some houses were razed, and the many new ones to be constructed were built on stilts. Sand dredged from nearby waterways was pumped into

20300-481: The hurricane caused at least 52 deaths – and possibly as many as 232 deaths – in Canada, mostly due to sunken vessels near Newfoundland and the French territory of Saint-Pierre . Throughout its path, the storm caused more than $ 35.4 million in damage. ($ 1.3 billion in 2023.) The storm is believed to have originated from a tropical wave which moved off the west coast of Africa and then emerged into

20475-553: The hurricane caused nearly $ 200,000 in damage and 47 deaths. Houston also experienced significant damage. The hurricane wrought damage to many buildings, including a Masonic temple, a railroad powerhouse, an opera house, a courthouse, and many businesses, churches, homes, hotels, and school buildings. Streets were littered with branches from shade trees and downed electrical wires, leaving several roads completely impassable to vehicles. The city of Houston suffered about $ 250,000 in damage and two deaths, one of which occurred when

20650-480: The impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill . In Congressional testimony, Dr. Jonathan Coddington, associate director of Research and Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History , provides a detailed overview of the Gulf collections and their sources which Museum staff have made available on an online map. The samples were collected for years by the former Minerals Management Service (renamed

20825-702: The impact. Farther north, the storm and its remnants continued to produce heavy rains and gusty winds, which downed telegraph wires, signs, and trees in several states. Fatalities occurred in other states, including fifteen in Ohio , two in Illinois , two in New York , one in Massachusetts , and one in Missouri . Damage from the storm throughout the U.S. exceeded US$ 34 million. The remnants also brought severe impact to Canada. In Ontario , damage reached about C$ 1.35 million, with CAD$ 1 million to crops. The remnants of

21000-474: The island and emerged into Straits of Florida as a tropical storm on September 5. As the system emerged into the Straits of Florida, Gangoite observed a large, persistent halo around the moon, while the sky turned deep red and cirrus clouds moved northwards. This indicated to him that the tropical storm had intensified and that the prevailing winds were moving the system towards the coast of Texas . However,

21175-652: The island is where Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his small party of around 80, made a brief stopover in November 1528, during his lengthy and notable survival odyssey. After returning to Spain in 1537, Cabeza de Vaca wrote an account of his eight years of traveling across what is now the US Southwest, first published in 1542 as La relación y comentarios ("The Account and Commentaries"), and in later editions retitled Naufragios y comentarios ("Shipwrecks and Commentaries"). Jao de la Porta , along with his brother Morin, financed

21350-540: The island to the mainland were washed away, while approximately 15 mi (24 km) of railroad track was destroyed. Winds and storm surge also downed electrical, telegraph, and telephone wires. The surge swept buildings off their foundations and dismantled them. Many buildings and homes destroyed other structures after being pushed into them by the waves, which even demolished structures built to withstand hurricanes. Every home in Galveston suffered damage, with 3,636 homes destroyed. Approximately 10,000 people in

21525-458: The island, and the Confederates controlled it for the remainder of the war. On September 8, 1900, the greatest natural disaster to ever strike the United States occurred at Galveston. In the early evening hours of September 8, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 came ashore, bringing with it a great storm surge that inundated most of Galveston Island and the city of Galveston. As a result, much of

21700-411: The largest donations included $ 228,000 from New York , $ 67,000 from Texas, $ 56,000 from Illinois, $ 53,000 from Massachusetts, and $ 52,000 from Missouri. Contributions also came from abroad, such as from Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, England, and South Africa, including $ 10,000 each from Liverpool and Paris. Andrew Carnegie made the largest personal contribution, $ 10,000, while an additional $ 10,000

21875-488: The mainland being considered to be within the Gulf. The consensus among geologists is that before the late Triassic , the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. Before the Late Triassic, the area consisted of dry land, which included continental crust that now underlies Yucatán , within the middle of the supercontinent Pangaea . This land lay south of a continuous mountain range that extended from north-central Mexico, through

22050-512: The mainland, Biloxi , with his brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville . On May 1 he completed Fort Maurepas on the northeast side of the Bay of Biloxi. On May 4 d'Iberville sailed for France leaving his teenage brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne , as second in command to the French commandant. The Gulf of Mexico's eastern, northern, and northwestern shores lie along the US states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The US portion of

22225-414: The mainland, and the majority of the population was unconcerned by the rain clouds that began rolling in by midmorning. According to his memoirs, Isaac Cline personally traveled by horse along the beach and other low-lying areas to warn people of the storm's approach. However, these accounts by Cline and his brother, Galveston meteorologist Joseph L. Cline, have been in dispute since. Although Isaac Cline

22400-533: The middle of the island. As severe as the damage to the city's buildings was, the death toll was even greater. Because of the destruction of the bridges to the mainland and the telegraph lines, no word of the city's destruction was able to reach the mainland at first. On the morning of September 9, one of the few ships at the Galveston wharfs to survive the storm, the Pherabe , set sail and arrived in Texas City on

22575-646: The mouth of the Mississippi River and to colonize Louisiana which the English coveted. D'Iberville's fleet sailed from Brest on October 24, 1698. On January 25, 1699, d'Iberville reached Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola founded by the Spanish; he sailed from there to Mobile Bay and explored Massacre Island, later renamed Dauphin Island . He cast anchor between Cat Island and Ship Island ; and on February 13 he went to

22750-654: The next couple of days, the system moved west-northwestwards and is thought to have maintained its intensity as a weak tropical storm, before it passed through the Leeward Islands and entered the Caribbean Sea on August 31. On September 1, Father Reese Gangoite, the director of the Belen College Observatory in Havana , Cuba, noted that the storm was in its formative stages, with only vague indications of

22925-428: The north, are often referred to as the " Third Coast " of the United States (in addition to its Atlantic and Pacific coasts). The Gulf of Mexico took shape approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics . The Gulf of Mexico basin is roughly oval in shape and is approximately 810 nautical miles (1,500 km; 930 mi) wide. Its floor consists of sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It

23100-629: The northeast side of the island. The far north end of the island is separated from the Bolivar Peninsula by Galveston Harbor, the entrance to Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel . Ferry service is available between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula. The southern end of the island is separated from the mainland by San Luis Pass . The San Luis Pass-Vacek Toll Bridge connects the San Luis Pass Road on Galveston Island with

23275-403: The northwest as it approached the coast of Texas, while the Weather Bureau office in Galveston began observing hurricane-force winds by 22:00 UTC. The cyclone made landfall around 8:00 p.m CST on September 8 (02:00 UTC on September 9) to the south of Houston as a Category 4 hurricane. While crossing Galveston Island and West Bay , the eye passed southwest of

23450-512: The number killed, the storm destroyed about 7,000 buildings of all uses in Galveston, which included 3,636 demolished homes; every dwelling in the city suffered some degree of damage. The hurricane left approximately 10,000 people in the city homeless, out of a total population of fewer than 38,000. The disaster ended the Golden Era of Galveston , as the hurricane alarmed potential investors, who turned to Houston instead. In response to

23625-458: The oil. Cleanup operations were resumed after conditions became favorable. On May 27 the USGS had revised the estimate of the leak from 5,000 barrels per day (790 m /d) to 12,000–19,000 barrels per day (3,000 m /d) an increase from earlier estimates. On July 15 BP announced that the leak had stopped for the first time in 88 days. In July BP reached an $ 18.7bn settlement with the U.S. government,

23800-569: The others received some degree of damage. During the storm, the St. Mary's Orphans Asylum, owned by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word , was occupied by 93 children and 10  sisters . As tides began approaching the property, the sisters moved the children into the girl's dorm, as it was newer and sturdier. Realizing they were under threat, the sisters had the children repeatedly sing Queen of

23975-603: The past three decades in the region. According to the September 11, 2006 issue of The Tampa Tribune , earthquake tremors were last felt in Florida in 1952, recorded in Quincy , 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Tallahassee . Cuba and Mexico: Exchange of notes constituting an agreement on the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone of Mexico in the sector adjacent to Cuban maritime areas (with map), of July 26, 1976. Cuba and United States: Maritime boundary agreement between

24150-469: The rate observed for the global ocean surface. The gulf is considered aseismic ; however, mild tremors have been recorded throughout history (usually 5.0 or less on the Richter magnitude scale ). Earthquakes may be caused by interactions between sediment loading on the sea floor and adjustment by the crust. On September 10, 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center reported that

24325-539: The roof of a house, crushing the roof and nearly killing the occupants. A newly built iron works building was virtually destroyed, causing a loss of about $ 10,000. At the Pan-American Exposition , the storm damaged several structures, including part of the government building, while two towers were destroyed. Losses at the exposition alone were conservatively estimated at $ 75,000. One death occurred in Buffalo after

24500-502: The roof. Strong winds also tossed a boxcar from its track. A bridge and wharf at St. Peters Bay were damaged. Fruit crops were almost entirely ruined throughout Prince Edward Island. The majority of loss of life in Canada occurred due to numerous shipwrecks off the coasts of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , Newfoundland , and Prince Edward Island. The overall death toll in Canadian waters is estimated to be between 52 and 232, making this at least

24675-468: The salvage operation, when Alvarado arrived by sea on July 22, 1554. The team labored until September 12 to salvage the Padre Island treasure. This loss, in combination with other ship disasters around the Gulf of Mexico, gave rise to a plan for establishing a settlement on the northern Gulf Coast to protect shipping and more quickly rescue castaways. As a result, the expedition of Tristán de Luna y Arellano

24850-458: The sea about 97 miles (156 km) south of Port Fourchon , Louisiana , according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Galveston hurricane of 1900 The 1900 Galveston hurricane , also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood , and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm , is the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. The strongest storm of

25025-552: The season", which uprooted trees and damaged several buildings. Throughout the state, winds left at least $ 12,000 in losses to peach orchards, with many peach trees uprooted. Significant losses to apples and pears also occurred. Rough seas in Lake Erie resulted in several maritime incidents offshore Ohio . The John B. Lyon , a 255 ft (77.7 m) steamer, capsized about 5 mi (8.0 km) north of Conneaut . Fourteen out of sixteen crew members drowned. A survivor suggested that

25200-520: The second in 1519 under the command of Hernán Cortés , which led to the Spanish exploration, military invasion, and ultimately settlement and colonization known as the Conquest of Mexico . Hernández did not live to see the continuation of his work: he died in 1517, the year of his expedition, as the result of the injuries and the extreme thirst suffered during the voyage, and disappointed in the knowledge that Diego Velázquez had given precedence to Grijalva as

25375-494: The ship being overloaded may have been a factor in its sinking. About 10 mi (16 km) farther north, the schooner Dundee sank, causing at least one death. In another incident nearby, the steamer City of Erie , with about 300 passengers aboard, was hit by a wave that swept over the bulwarks . The engine slowed and the steamers later reached safety in Canada with no loss of lives. In Toledo , strong winds disrupted telegraph services. Winds also blew water out of parts of

25550-512: The southeastern Louisiana in the vicinity of Port Eads . Two men were initially presumed to have drowned after sailing away from Fort St. Philip and not returning in a timely manner, but they were both later found alive. Nearly all of the damage in the United States occurred in Texas, with much of the damage in Galveston. However, many communities outside of Galveston also suffered serious damage and it caused many casualties and affected many families economically, with several cities reporting

25725-409: The states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, as well as 400 local authorities. As of 2015 BP's cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $ 54bn. On May 12, 2016, a release of oil from subsea infrastructure on Shell's Brutus oil rig released 2,100 barrels of oil. This leak created a visible 2 by 13 miles (3.2 by 20.9 km) oil slick in

25900-403: The storm – consisted of approximately 1,900 acres (768.9 ha) of land and was arc-shaped, with complete demolition of structures in the west, south, and eastern portions of the city, while the north-central section of the city suffered the least amount of damage. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, a 3 mi (4.8 km) long, 30 ft (9.1 m) wall of debris was situated in

26075-572: The storm inundated about 200 ft (61 m) of railroad tracks in Pascagoula (then known as Scranton), while a quarantine station on Ship Island was swept away. In Louisiana , the storm produced gale-force winds as far inland as DeRidder and as far east as New Orleans , with hurricane-force winds observed in Cameron Parish . Along the coast, storm surge inundated Johnson Bayou , while tides at some locations reached their highest level since

26250-456: The storm itself but died after several days being trapped under the wreckage of the city, with rescuers unable to reach them. The rescuers could hear the screams of the survivors as they walked on the debris trying to rescue those they could. More people were killed in this single storm than the total of those killed in at least the next two deadliest tropical cyclones that have struck the United States since. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 remains

26425-450: The storm, three engineers designed and oversaw plans to raise the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Galveston Island by 17 ft (5.2 m) and erect a 10 mi (16 km) seawall . On August 27, 1900, a ship east of the Windward Islands detected a tropical cyclone, the first observed that year. The system proceeded to move steadily west-northwestward and entered the northeastern Caribbean on August 30. It made landfall in

26600-467: The storm. After being informed of the damage, Rice decided to spend $ 250,000, the entire balance of his checking account, on repairing his properties. With the duo realizing that they would fail to obtain Rice's wealth, Patrick convinced Jones to kill Rice with chloroform as he slept. Immediately after murdering Rice, Jones forged a large check to Patrick in Rice's name. However, Jones misspelled Patrick's name on

26775-478: The storm. The authorities passed out free whiskey to sustain the distraught men conscripted for the gruesome work of collecting and burning the dead. With thousands dead and roughly 2,000 survivors leaving the city and never returning according to a Morrison and Fourmy Company survey, Galveston initially experienced a significant population decline. Between 1907 and 1914, Congregation B'nai Israel rabbi Henry Cohen and philanthropist Jacob Schiff spearheaded

26950-546: The strongest ocean currents known, originates in the gulf as a continuation of the Caribbean Current –Yucatán Current– Loop Current system. Other circulation features include a permanent cyclonic gyre in the Bay of Campeche, as well as anticyclonic gyres which are shed by the Loop Current and travel westward where they eventually dissipate. The Bay of Campeche constitutes a major arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally,

27125-468: The system peaked as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (235 km/h) on September 8. Early on the next day, it made landfall to the south of Houston. The cyclone weakened quickly after moving inland and fell to tropical storm intensity late on September 9. The storm turned east-northeastward and became extratropical over Iowa on September 11. The extratropical system strengthened while accelerating across

27300-452: The thousands of British pounds . Heavy rains fell in Cuba in association with the cyclone, including a peak 24-hour total of 12.58 in (319.5 mm) in the city of Santiago de Cuba. The city experienced its worst weather since 1877. The southern end of the city was submerged with about 5 ft (1.5 m) of water. Firefighters and police rescued and aided stranded residents. St. George ,

27475-635: The time of the 1900 hurricane, the highest point in the city of Galveston was only 8.7 ft (2.7 m) above sea level. The hurricane brought with it a storm surge of over 15 ft (4.6 m) that washed over the entire island. Storm surge and tides began flooding the city by the early morning hours of September 8. Water rose steadily from 3:00 p.m. (21:00 UTC) until approximately 7:30 p.m. (01:30 UTC September 9), when eyewitness accounts indicated that water rose about 4 ft (1.2 m) in just four seconds. An additional 5 ft (1.5 m) of water had flowed into portions of

27650-565: The train died when the storm surge overran the tops of the cars, while every person inside the lighthouse survived. First news from Galveston just received by train that could get no closer to the bay shore than 6 mi [9.7 km] where the prairie was strewn with debris and dead bodies. About 200 corpses counted from the train. Large steamship stranded 2 mi [3.2 km] inland. Nothing could be seen of Galveston. Loss of life and property undoubtedly most appalling. Weather clear and bright here with gentle southeast wind. At

27825-512: The wall, making walking along the waterfront dangerous. Small craft in New York Harbor were thrown off course and tides and currents in the Hudson River made navigation difficult. In Brooklyn , The New York Times reported that trees were uprooted, signs and similar structures were blown down, and yachts were torn from moorings with some suffering severe damage. Because of the direction of

28000-445: The western side of Galveston Bay with a group of messengers from the city. When they reached the telegraph office in Houston early on September 10, a short message was sent to Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers and U.S. President William McKinley : "I have been deputized by the mayor and Citizen's Committee of Galveston to inform you that the city of Galveston is in ruins." The messengers reported an estimated five hundred dead; this

28175-414: The wide continental shelves of Yucatán and Florida receive cooler, nutrient-enriched waters from the deep by a process known as upwelling , which stimulates plankton growth in the euphotic zone . This attracts fish, shrimp, and squid. River drainage and atmospheric fallout from industrial coastal cities also provide nutrients to the coastal zone. The Gulf Stream , a warm Atlantic Ocean current and one of

28350-442: The wind, Coney Island escaped the fury of the storm, though a bathing pavilion at Bath Beach suffered damage from wind and waves. In Connecticut , winds gusted up to about 40 mph (64 km/h). The apple crops, already endangered by drought conditions, suffered severe damage, with The Boston Globe noting that there was, "hardly an apple left on a tree in the entire state". In the town of Orange , twelve large tents at

28525-411: Was a boomtown with the population increasing from 29,084 people in 1890 to 37,788 people in 1900 . The city was the fourth largest municipality in terms of population in the state of Texas in 1900, and had among the highest per capita income rates in the U.S. Galveston had many ornate business buildings in a downtown section called The Strand , which was considered the " Wall Street of

28700-409: Was affected by "one of the most furious windstorms which visited this city in years". Telephone and telegraph communications were nearly completely out for several hours, while windows shattered and trees snapped. Street railway traffic experienced delays. In Maine , the storm downed trees and chimney and caused property damage in the vicinity of Biddeford . From September 12–September 14,

28875-462: Was claimed by BP that approximately 1,000 barrels (160 m ) of oil per day were issuing from the wellhead , about 1-mile (1.6 km) below the surface on the ocean floor. On April 29, the U.S. government revealed that approximately 5,000 barrels (790 m ) per day, five times the original estimate, were pouring into the gulf from the wellhead. The resulting oil slick quickly expanded to cover hundreds of square miles of ocean surface, posing

29050-438: Was completely deroofed – a hospital, a city gas works, a city water works, and the custom house . The Grand Opera House also sustained extensive damage, but was quickly rebuilt. Three schools and St. Mary's University were nearly destroyed. Many places of worship in the city also received severe damage or were completely demolished. Of the 39 churches in Galveston, 25 experienced complete destruction, while

29225-476: Was donated by his steel company . It was one of those monstrosities of nature which defied exaggeration and fiendishly laughed at all tame attempts of words to picture the scene it had prepared. The churches, the great business houses, the elegant residences of the cultured and opulent, the modest little homes of laborers of a city of nearly forty thousand people; the center of foreign shipping and railroad traffic lay in splinters and debris piled twenty feet above

29400-484: Was impossible. Initially, bodies were collected by "dead gangs" and then given to 50 African American men – who were forcibly recruited at gunpoint – to load them onto a barge. About 700 bodies were taken out to sea to be dumped. However, after gulf currents washed many of the bodies back onto the beach, a new solution was needed. Funeral pyres were set up on the beaches, or wherever dead bodies were found, and burned day and night for several weeks after

29575-498: Was initially considered to be an exaggeration. The citizens of Houston knew a powerful storm had blown through and had prepared to provide assistance. Workers set out by rail and ship for the island almost immediately. Rescuers arrived to find the city completely destroyed. A survey conducted by the Morrison and Fourmy Company in early 1901 indicated a population loss of 8,124, though the company believed that about 2,000 people left

29750-538: Was involved during the latest Cretaceous and early Paleogene periods in a compressive deformation episode, the Laramide Orogeny , which created the Sierra Madre Oriental of eastern Mexico. In 2014, Erik Cordes of Temple University and others discovered a brine pool 3,300 feet (1,000 m) below the gulf's surface, with a circumference of 100 feet (30 m) and 12 feet (3.7 m) feet deep, which

29925-604: Was later found safely anchored at Westport, New York . According to a man near the lake, all water from the New York portion of the lake was blown to the Vermont side, crashing ashore in waves as high as 15 to 20 ft (4.6 to 6.1 m). In the state capital of Montpelier , several large trees at the state house were uprooted. Within Montpelier and vicinity, farmers suffered some losses to apples and corn. Telephone and telegraph services were almost completely cut off. In Vergennes ,

30100-402: Was not covered by the sea until the latest Jurassic or the beginning of Cretaceous time. The Yucatán Platform was emergent until the mid-Cretaceous. After both platforms were submerged, the formation of carbonates and evaporites has characterized the geologic history of these two stable areas. Most of the basin was rimmed during the early Cretaceous by carbonate platforms, and its western flank

30275-641: Was restored, and Western Union began providing minimal telegraph service. Within three weeks of the storm, cotton was again being shipped out of the port. A number of cities, businesses, organizations, and individuals made monetary donations toward rebuilding Galveston. By September 15, less than one week after the storm struck Galveston, contributions totaled about $ 1.5 million. More than $ 134,000 in donations poured in from New York City alone. Five other major cities – St. Louis , Chicago , Boston , Pittsburgh , and Philadelphia – had also donated at least $ 15,000 by September 15. By state,

30450-503: Was sent and landed at Pensacola Bay on August 15, 1559. On December 11, 1526, Charles V granted Pánfilo de Narváez a license to claim what is now the Gulf Coast of the United States, known as the Narváez expedition . The contract gave him one year to gather an army, leave Spain, be large enough to found at least two towns of 100 people each, and garrison two more fortresses anywhere along

30625-475: Was stretched and thinned. This thinning created a broad zone of transitional crust, which displays modest and uneven thinning with block faulting and a broad zone of uniformly thinned transitional crust, which is half the typical 40- kilometer (25  mi ) thickness of continental crust. It was at this time that rifting first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to

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