Hurricane season is here, and people up and down the Gulf Coast have started crossing their fingers that we’ll be spared a major storm this season. That includes those of us in the Houston-Galveston area.
Galveston is most know for the powerful storm of 1900 that devastated the island and killed more than 10,000 people. After that storm, the city built the seawall, which was tested when the hurricane of 1915 hit the island. While the 1915 storm caused $50 million worth of property damage, only 275 people lost their lives — not a trivial number, but a far better outcome than in 1900.
To see more photos of the hurricane damage and repairs, take a look at the Galveston 1915 Hurricane Photographs in the UH Digital Library, taken from the collection of the same name located in UH Special collections.