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18 19 east-east and probably to the southeast bymorning, increasing in energy. If you reside in low parts of the city,move to higher grounds.’” “Prepare for the worst,which is yet to come,”were the only consoling words of the weather bureau officials at Galveston frommorning until night of the 8th,when no information further could be given out. Paul Lester,survivor: “Words are too weak to express the horror, the awfulness of the storm itself, to even faintly picture the scene of devastation,wreck and ruin,misery, suf- fering and grief...The mind cannot comprehend all the horrors, can not learn or know all the dreadful particulars...One stands speechless and powerless to relate even that which he has felt and knows.” Walker W.Davis,survivor: The sea ran as high in the streets of the town as it did in the Gulf. The wind blew from 120 to 130 miles an hour. There were two thousand in the ho- tel that night, if it had gone you can guess the rest. One hour more of that wind would have killed every person on the Island. On Tuesday after the Saturday storm,Mayor Walter J. Jones of Galveston sent out the following appeal to the country: “It is my opinion, based on personal information, that 5,000 people have lost their lives here.Approx- imately one-third of the residence portion of the city has been swept away.There are several thousand people who are homeless and destitute–howmany there is no way of finding out.Arrangements are now being made to have the women and children sent to Houston and other places, but the means of transportation are limited.Thousands are still to be cared for here.We appeal to you for immediate aid.” HURRICANE IRMA / HURRICANE MARIA 2017Via Facebook: Galveston Historical Foundation posted September 7at 1:31pm #TBT-Great StormAnniversary, September 8, 1900 As we are in recovery from #HurricaneHarvey, an- ticipate #HurricaneIrma, and pray for our west coast friends, it is hard to believe tomorrow is the anni- versary of one of the US’s greatest natural disasters, The Great Storm of 1900. But as we have learned, out of disasters come the most amazing stories of resilience and hope. One incredible story that comes from the 1900 Storm is that of Florence and Ralph Klaes.Adopt- ed in 1895 by the Allen family, Florence and Ralph were 18 and 16when the stormhit Galveston.Having lived almost on the beach,the familymoved to a“stur- dier”house,though not manyblocks further from the gulf.The fairly small house ended up with 48 people riding out the storm. When the house eventually collapsed that eve- ning, Ralph held on to debris and “though unable to swim a stroke...he resolved, [it] was not going to get away from him.”After being flung into the water and struck unconscious twice, Florence grabbed a floating tree branch and held on. Little did she know it was the same tree that held her brother.As dawn broke the next morning, brother and sister reunited. Both Florence and Ralph lived out the rest of their long lives on the island. We are thinking of all those affected by our cur- rent natural disasters and hope you, your family and pets are safe. RECOMMENDED READING For a truly superb accounting of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900,“Isaac’s Storm: AMan,ATime, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History”by Erik Larson is a five-star bestseller,well worth the read.