This chilling telegraph was received at the US Weather Bureau Washington, DC, on September 8th 1900 after the deadliest hurricane in Americam history ploughed into the unprepared port of Galveston, Texas. 150 MPH winds shredded clapperboard houses with the force of dynamite. The sea followed, a solid wall of water 20 feet high. The city's highest point was 9 feet above sea level. Overnight, between 6000 and 10,000 people lost their lives, houses were reduced to matchwood and bodies were strewn miles inland across the prairie.
It was, and still is, the worst natural disaster ever to strike the United States.
Acknowledgement.
This extraordinary storm, the events leading up to 8th September 1900 and after is recorded in exceptional detail in this great book,
Isaac's Storm
The Drowning of Galveston
by
Erik Larson.
Well, that's certainly a well timed blog, Richard, with hurricane Milton battering Florida today.