Please Note:

This website is a work in progress. If you know anything about anyone who died in the storm, please contact Mic Barnette at [email protected] Thank You-MIC 

Sometime between 3 PM and 4 PM the Bay met the Gulf. By four o'lock water was a foot deep at the highest point in the city and the wind had reached hurricane velocity. People later said when they saw debris floating toward the Gulf they thought the water was receding. It was later they realized that some of the wreckage was being carried over from the Bay side to the Gulf side of the island.

When the Clines checked the weather instruments at 6:15 PM they found the anemomoter had recorded northeasterly winds of 84 miles per hour. They estimated the winds may have reached 110 to 120 mph. during the course of that horrible evening. Between 3:30 and 6:15 PM the barometer stood at 28.44 and began rising about 8:30PM about as rapidly as it fell. Later the instrument shelter and many of the instruments blew away. Some of the instruments were never found.

About 7:30 PM there was a sudden four foot rise in the tide. By 8 PM the entire island was under 8 to 15 feet of water. It was not until about 11 PM when the tide began to recede. While there still was high water comparatively little damage occurred after that time.

During the Storm the entire south, east and west portions of the city from one to five blocks inland were swept totally clean. Not a house remained in the area. Many houses across the city were blown down and all buildings were in some way damaged.

The Storm was an equal opportunity killer. Many men, women and children of all races were drowned. In many cases entire families drowned. Many lives, however, were saved as people grabbed and hung on to anything that floated. Thousands of people were injured by flying timbers, glass, roof slates and other flying debris as they tried to save themselves.

The intent of this website is not really to discuss those who survived the Storm. It is an attempt to identify those who  died and tell their story. However, for those interested in the stories of the survivors, shortly after the Great Galveston Storm of 1900 a number of books were quickly sent to press telling the horroring tales of those who survived the Storm.

Readers are urged to check out the page on this website for a list of books about the Storm. A number of these books have been reprinted in the last year or so as the 100th anniversary of the Storm was observed. Some of these titles are available through Barnette's Family Tree Book Company.