105 years ago today

[Jim Cantore]

The deadliest natural disaster in U.S history

[Scorpion]

Not anymore.

[senorpepr]

Not anymore.

True, but remember that the folks in Galveston didn't have any sensible forewarning about the hurricane. They didn't have satellites or aircraft monitoring it, unlike with Katrina.

[ROCK]

Not anymore.

uh, we dont have a death toll yet......its going to be close though...

[Astro_man92]

Not anymore.

True, but remember that the folks in Galveston didn't have any sensible forewarning about the hurricane. They didn't have satellites or aircraft monitoring it, unlike with Katrina.

uhh that doesn't make any sense

thousands died without warning right

here Thousands died with warning i'd say that is would have been ALOT worse if it had happened without warning(death toll in the millions possibly)

[Jim Cantore]

Imagine the death toll if Katrina hit in 1900

[Astro_man92]

Imagine the death toll if Katrina hit in 1900

i'd say it would have been about the same becaues there arn't NEARLY as many people there then as there are now

[cmdebbie]

The population was not near as high in 1900.

[senorpepr]

uhh that doesn't make any sense

thousands died without warning right

here Thousands died with warning i'd say that is would have been ALOT worse if it had happened without warning(death toll in the millions possibly)

Well, I don't really want to go down the road of reasons on why some of the people died in Katrina. Although the fact of the matter isn't about Katrina's residents having warning or not. They did. You can have all the hypotheticals you want, but they did have warning. As for 01L in 1900, they didn't have much warning.

Now, with that said, most of those who died in Katrina chose to stay in the area. Whether it was because of pride or funding situations, whatever, they chose to stay in the area. I'm sorry, but most did have a chance to get out. It's a matter of self-responsibility. They knew, or did not care, of the threat and chose to ride out the storm. The exception were those who faced a disability. However, to say those who were in poverty "could not" get out... I don't agree with. If they could think on their own and could physically move, they had the chance to get out but chose not to. It's all a matter of self-responsibility. When life is on the line and you have the ability to manage it... then obviously you have the responsibility to manage it.

Therefore, in my opinion, I still put the Galveston hurricane as a much more tragic event than Katrina, in terms of lives lost and how they were lost. Those in Galveston were caught off-guard. The only folks in Louisiana and Mississippi who were caught off-guard were those who had disabilities (whether that is age, mental state, physcial state, hopsitalization, etc)

Now, let me make a disclaimer before everyone starts flying their freak flag at me. Don't get me wrong, I feel Katrina was a very tragic event. The impact of this system will be felt around the country to some point for a very long time. I'm not trying to discount Katrina nor as I dismissing those who lost lives/property in that region. All I'm saying in this post is that I feel that those who were surprised by the Galveston Hurricane is much higher than those who were surprised by Katrina, because most of the Katrina-victims choose to stay, but had access to the information of her arrival.

See, those in Galveston didn't have a satellite. They had a few ship reports, but technology to transmit those observations weren't all that wonderful back in 1900. Read Issac's Storm. Issac Cline, meteorologist at Galveston's Weather Bureau, had little information to work with. The citizens of Galveston had even less. Whereas the folks of Louisiana/Mississippi had information available to them. They had internet, TV, radio, newspapers. Even if they didn't have them at their own houses/apartments/cardboard box, etc., this information is posted around town. They even had word of mouth from other people.

Okay... I'll stop now. [/soapbox]

[Stratusxpeye]

I agree. Prolly not goping to be the deadliest hurricane on record anymore. I think katrina will tak ethe record for all hurricnaes weve seen in recorded history.

I also agree that this storm in 1900 terms with no warning would have killed thousands more than what it has already. Imagine if NO had hardly no warning. Possibly 100ks of people would have parished.

[wxmann_91]

Any hurricane that hits a populated area today could still kill thousands, inevitably there will be some people who won't leave.

The U.S. should consider themselves VERY lucky. Many major cities have the potential to be under the gun for a major disaster, San Fran, Los Angeles, and Seattle - Quakes. Midwestern cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas - Tornadoes. And of course coastal cities have hurricanes. The U.S. probably gets the most natural disasters in the world, and in the future luck will probably run out, and a big city will be hit by a major catastrophe. Such an event has the potential to kill tens of thousands, if not more.

[Brent]

WOW... I never knew it went over all that land and didn't become a hurricane til it left Cuba.

[senorpepr]

Any hurricane that hits a populated area today could still kill thousands, inevitably there will be some people who won't leave.

The U.S. should consider themselves VERY lucky. Many major cities have the potential to be under the gun for a major disaster, San Fran, Los Angeles, and Seattle - Quakes. Midwestern cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas - Tornadoes. And of course coastal cities have hurricanes. The U.S. probably gets the most natural disasters in the world, and in the future luck will probably run out, and a big city will be hit by a major catastrophe. Such an event has the potential to kill tens of thousands, if not more.

You bring up a point that I want to comment on: tornadoes and major cities. I've spent a great deal of my life in the plains. I grew up in Kansas City. Today, I work in Omaha. Many times have massive F4 or F5 tornadoes have developed within a hundred miles of a major city.

Last summer, for instance, a very large F4 struck Hallim, NE. This was just about an hour SW of Omaha. I lived not too far from this tornado, so I had the chance to drive down to Hallim (a small town) and help with the clean up efforts. I've also seen the aftermath of the F4 tornado that struck Stockton, MO on May 4, 2003. Stockton was a town I've spent many summers in during vacations. The aftermath of these F4 tornadoes left me without words.

Granted, hurricanes are much larger, but ponder this: an F3 or greater tornado will always affect land. (Unless that's one REALLY strong waterspout). Chances are it will only affect crops or some land, such as a hurricane being a "fish." However, these monster tornadoes can reach several miles in width. That's just enough to wipe major residential regions off the map. Furthermore, these tornadoes have winds much higher than a hurricane can even dream about. Doppler radar indicated that the Moore, OK tornado had winds of 318 mph. That makes the winds associated with Katrina seem pathetic.

Also consider this: Katrina struck on Monday. The NHC had New Orleans "under the gun" on Friday night. That's a sizable amount of lead time. You don't have that "lead time" with a tornado. At best, you have several minutes. Good luck to you if you happen to be asleep or taking a quick nap. Conditions here in the plains can happen in a flash and before you know it... you're out of luck.

Now, my objective here isn't to compare Katrina to a tornado. My objective here is education. Obviously we can see there was a lack in that during Katrina. We, as a public, had the luxury to have such an awesome forecast by the NHC. My hat goes off to those forecasters and to those men and women who were providing recon. Had it not been for those recon missions, data would not have populated into the models, thus limiting the lead time and increasing the error in the forecast track.

My purpose in this post is to stress getting a plan together. A hurricane plan, a tornado plan, a mudslide plan, an earthquake plan, a winter storm plan... it doesn't matter. It needs to happen. Also, access to this data. Yes, we have the internet nowadays, however, a NOAA weather radio is such a life-saver. I can personally say that those radios are a wonderful thing when they wake you up and warn you about a severe thunderstorm or a tornado. I can't even begin to count the number of times the radio has woke me up to alert me to severe weather.

[JPmia]

uhh that doesn't make any sense

thousands died without warning right

here Thousands died with warning i'd say that is would have been ALOT worse if it had happened without warning(death toll in the millions possibly)

Well, I don't really want to go down the road of reasons on why some of the people died in Katrina. Although the fact of the matter isn't about Katrina's residents having warning or not. They did. You can have all the hypotheticals you want, but they did have warning. As for 01L in 1900, they didn't have much warning.

Now, with that said, most of those who died in Katrina choose to stay in the area. Whether it was because of pride or funding situations, whatever, they chose to stay in the area. I'm sorry, but most did have a chance to get out. It's a matter of self-responsibility. They knew, or did not care, of the threat and choose to ride out the storm. The exception were those who faced a disability. However, to say those who were in poverty "could not" get out... I don't agree with. If they could think on their own and could physcially move, they had the chance to get out but choose not to. It's all a matter of self-responsibility. When life is on the line and you have the ability to manage it... then obviously you have the responsibility to manage it.

Therefore, in my opinion, I still put the Galveston hurricane as a much more tragic event than Katrina, in terms of lives lost and how they were lost. Those in Galveston were caught off-guard. The only folks in Louisiana and Mississippi who were caught off-guard were those who had disabilities (whether that is age, mental state, physcial state, hopsitalization, etc)

Now, let me make a disclaimer before everyone starts flying their freak flag at me. Don't get me wrong, I feel Katrina was a very tragic event. The impact of this system will be felt around the country to some point for a very long time. I'm not trying to discount Katrina nor as I dismissing those who lost lives/property in that region. All I'm saying in this post is that I feel that those who were surprised by the Galveston Hurricane is much higher than those who were surprised by Katrina, because most of the Katrina-victims choose to stay, but had access to the information of her arrival.

See, those in Galveston didn't have a satellite. They had a few ship reports, but technology to transmit those observations weren't all that wonderful back in 1900. Read Issac's Storm. Issac Cline, meteorologist at Galveston's Weather Bureau, had little information to work with. The citizen's of Galveston had even less. Whereas the folks of Louisiana/Mississippi had information available to them. They had internet, TV, radio, newspapers. Even if they didn't have them at their own houses/apartments/cardboard box, etc., this information is posted around town. They even had word of mouth from other people.

Okay... I'll stop now. [/soapbox]

I imagine there were a great deal of people who did not have cars...what did you expect them to do walk out of the city across the bridges, hitch a ride from a stranger? It appears a lot of these people went to the Superdome...well we know what happened there. Too bad they did have an organized bus/train evac. method in place.

[senorpepr]

I imagine there were a great deal of people who did not have cars...what did you expect them to do walk out of the city across the bridges, hitch a ride from a stranger? It appears a lot of these people went to the Superdome...well we know what happened there. Too bad they did have an organized bus/train evac. method in place.

Well... those who went to the Superdome at least made that decision. My comments were mainly directed toward those who stayed at their homes. However, in the manner of life and death... a person has to do whatever they can do to protect themselves. I can't discredit those who went to the Superdome. It was better than dieing in the storm. For the others... they did have a choice to get out. Yes, they can walk out. They had roughly 60 hours of lead time. A person can go a long ways in that time. There were some busses out of the city, although not associated with an organized evacuation plan. If they really wanted to get out, they could have. They did have options. I mean, if there is a category four or five headed toward a city that is below sea-level and the likelihood of death is high (which was spread by the media and even the NWS), they should have made more of an effort to get out.

Now, yes, I wish they had a better evacuation method in place. I'm not sure why the mayor waited as long as he did and I hope he thinks about that every single night.

[Deb321]

Any hurricane that hits a populated area today could still kill thousands, inevitably there will be some people who won't leave.

The U.S. should consider themselves VERY lucky. Many major cities have the potential to be under the gun for a major disaster, San Fran, Los Angeles, and Seattle - Quakes. Midwestern cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas - Tornadoes. And of course coastal cities have hurricanes. The U.S. probably gets the most natural disasters in the world, and in the future luck will probably run out, and a big city will be hit by a major catastrophe. Such an event has the potential to kill tens of thousands, if not more.

You bring up a point that I want to comment on: tornadoes and major cities. I've spent a great deal of my live in the plains. I grew up in Kansas City. Today, I work in Omaha. Many times have massive F4 or F5 tornadoes have developed within a hundred miles of a major city.

Last summer, for instance, a very large F4 struck Hallim, NE. This was just about an hour SW of Omaha. I lived not too far from this tornado, so I have the chance to drive down to Hallim (a small town) and help with the clean up efforts. I've also seen the aftermath of the F4 tornado that struck Stockton, MO on May 4, 2003. Stockton was a town I've spent many summers in during vacations. The aftermath of these F4 tornadoes left me without words.

Granted, hurricanes are much larger, but ponder this: an F3 or greater tornado will always affect land. (Unless that's one REALLY strong waterspout). Chances are it will only affect crops or some land, such as a hurricane being a "fish." However, these monster tornadoes can reach several miles in width. That's just enough to wipe major residential regions off the map. Furthermore, these tornadoes have winds much higher than a hurricane can even dream about. Doppler radar indicated that the Moore, OK tornado had winds of 318 mph. That makes the winds associated with Katrina seem pathetic.

Also consider this: Katrina struck on Monday. The NHC had New Orleans "under the gun" on Friday night. That's a sizable amount of lead time. You don't have that "lead time" with a tornado. At best, you have several minutes. Good luck to you if you happen to be asleep or taking a quick nap. Conditions here in the plains can happen in a flash and before you know it... you're out of luck.

Now, my objective here isn't to compare Katrina to a tornado. My objective here is education. Obviously we can see there was a lack in that during Katrina. We, as a public, had the luxury to have such an awesome forecast by the NHC. My hat goes off to those forecasters and to those men and women who were providing recon. Had it not been for those recon missions, data would not have populated into the models, thus limiting the lead time and increasing the error in the forecast track.

My purpose in this post is to stress getting a plan together. A hurricane plan, a tornado plan, a mudslide plan, an earthquake plan, a winter storm plan... it doesn't matter. It needs to happen. Also, access to this data. Yes, we have the internet nowadays, however, a NOAA weather radio is such a life-saver. I can personally say that those radios are a wonderful thing when they wake you up and warn you about a severe thunderstorm or a tornado. I can't even begin to count the number of times the radio has woke me up to alert me to severe weather.

Excellent point -- I used to live where we had tornadoes and you usually don't get very much notice before they touch down. At least with hurricanes people have plenty of notice with all the technology to prepare themselves and evacuate if necessary.

[f5]

If the folk in 1900 had The Weather channel the death toll wouldn't be that high now the death toll is determine for example well i rode out that storm so i'm gonna ride out this storm.For example the death toll in mississippi is high beacuse "well i rode out Camille and Katrinia isn't no Camille."If you don't take Tropical Cyclones seriously they have they Ability to take your like i don't care if its a Allision or maybe a Camille they both took lives and caused alot of damage.

[sertorius]

senorpepr:

Excellent point on the plains. I too have lived in the Kansas City area my whole life (now In Lawrence Kansas) and have always been weary of tornados and floods and even serious ice storms. The thing about now, is that reidential areas now cover so much more terr. than before that I really think it is a matter of time (well, North KC was hit by a sig. tornado Spring 2004) before one hits hard. A good example is here in Lawrence: in the Spring of 2003 a tornado hit 500 yards from my house-it began as an f4 but luckily was only and f1 by the time it got to Lawrence and was bouncing so the damage was miminal. 2 things: one, forecasters in KC gave the all clear for Lawrence. 2. when i was in college at KU in the 80's, nobody would have cared as this whole area where I live was farm land. One before the tornado hit, there was no thunderstorm-the storm developed and dropped the tornado in 15 minuets. Yes, we were under a watch, but those are so common, most people ignore them-the central plains is in a hot spot for a massive desaster.

[AdvAutoBob]

An ironic postscript to the 1900 storm was Isaac Cline being reassigned to the New Orleans NWS office after the Galveston disaster.

[Jim Cantore]

it looks more like that the 1900 storm will remain the deadliest natural disaster in U.S history