Welcome to the Great Galveston Storm Website
(Note: Mic Barnette, the author of this site, formerly wrote a weekly genealogical column in the Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas. To read some of his back columns visit his website at: http://www.geocities.com/barnette_geo/) (Update: The Geocities website went out of business and the columns no longer exist on that website. Mic later had many of those columns on a website called Bravepages but that website is no longer viable. Mic has a number of the columns and intends to place them back online as time allows)
Also, this site is still located on freepages of Rootsweb at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~barnette/
However, several years ago Ancestry bought the Rootsweb site and has since stopped allowing updates and other activities there. So, it has been transfered to micbarnette.com
On the 8th of September 1900 one of the largest and most horrific tragedies to ever occur in the United States struck Galveston Texas. It stands as the single worst storm in United States history covering Galveston Island with between 8 and 15 feet of water and killing between 7,000 and 10,000 people.
This website is a precursor to an envisioned future publication dedicated to identifying and knowing somethingabout the people who died in the Great Galveston Storm.
The people who died in the Great Galveston Storm were live, vibrant, breathing people. In many cases more than one person in a family perished. In other cases, whole families died. The world has moved on, but, the victims of the storm should not be forgotten.
The Great Galveston Storm of 1900 occurred prior to the time hurricanes had names. It is simply referred to as The Great Galveston Storm or the 1900 Galveston Storm. Its windswere clocked at over 100 miles per hour when the wind gauge broke.
The whole Island of Galveston was covered by at least 6 to 8 feet of water from a storm surge and it is estimated that between 7,000 and 10,000 died. This storm remains the highest death toll from a natural disaster in American history.
Much has been written about the Galveston Storm. Most of what has been written, however, has been the stories of those who survived the Storm. This website, on the other hand, is an attempt to identify as many as possible of those who died during the Storm.
The Galveston newspapers published the names of about 5,000 persons who perished. In many cases the article says Mr. Jones, his wife and three children died.
A goal of the project is to identify which Mr. Jones and give names, ages and other information to his wife and his children.
The website will be a work in progress. Initially it will list the names listed in the newspaper which will be listed on this page.
By perusing the city directory it is hoped the above list can be suplemented with information to place the family in their respective census enumeration district neighborhoods. While not posted on this website at this time, information from the 1900 City Dirctory has been compiled and in the author’s research notes.
By adding information from the 1900 Galveston federal census it is hoped even more information can be discovered. This phase of the research is ongoing. By compiling all the information on a website it is hoped descendants or relatives of the deceased will visit the site and offer even more information to help give life to those who died.
When all the work has been completed a book may be in order.
Anyone visiting the website is urged to contact Mic Barnette at mic@barnettesbooks.com with information on anyone who perished in the Storm.
If you have photographs of people who died or places affected by the Storm they may be considered for inclusion on this website. You will be duly credited for the information you provide.
Before the Storm Galveston was on of the largest and most important business centers in the State. While the City and Island have recuperated, it has never attained its former stature and importnce it once had.
In addition to the names of those who died, the website has a list of the people, cities, churches, companies and other entities that contributed to relief funds to help the survivors of Galveston try to recover from the Storm and begin a new life.
The Story of the Tragic Great Galveston Storm is broken into a timeline of topics.
To get the most out of the story, be sure to read the narrative of the Storm in the order below:
Before the Storm
The Approaching Storm
During the Storm
After the Storm
Since the Storm
Those Who Died
Relief Fund
Links to other websites relating to the Storm
Books and Sources
and a listing of sources, books and the like will also be on the website.
Mic’s Observations at an Evacuee Center 205 and 2017
Mic Barnette
PO Box 57
Corsicanna, TX 75151
September 16, 2017
Following are some basic observations of my experiences serving as a volunteer at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Downtown Dallas for both Hurricane Katrine in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017. It is not intended to be a history of or tell the complete story of either hurricane.
The Dallas convention center served as one of the shelters to Katrina Hurricane evacuees from New Orleans in 2005 and evacuees from the Houston, Beaumont and Vidor areas for Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
I don’t remember a lot about what went on at the shelter in 2005. Evacuees were housed in the parking lot floors of the convention center under the direction of the Red Cross. The Salvation Army oversaw feeding the people several times a day.
The Red Cross set up the facility prior to the evacuees arriving. Their beds were cots, probably new cots or at least sanitized previous to being delivered to the center. On the cot was a canvas or other material, non-white sheet and a Red Cross blanket.
There were tables set up in several locations serving free water and small candy-like snacks.
As evacuees arrived at the facility they went through a review process of registering to stay at the center. They were asked who they were, their address and any special needs they may have required. There were representatives from a number of governmental and nonprofit agencies whose duties were to help them get through their ordeal. One such organization would likely have been FEMA.
There was a Red Cross list of evacuees that was designed to help others find people staying at the shelter. When one left the shelter their name was taken off the list.
As I recall there was a serious problem, in general, of trying to find evacuees. During Katrina as there were multiple lists in multiple places throughout the United States and knowing which list a relative or friend may have signed up on was a real nightmare. Due to cellphones, Facebook, and other forms of social media knowing where friends or family members were was less a problem during Hurricane Harvey
There was a command center in a room near the dorm. Different governmental Emergency Management organizations had their command centers in this room. Included were local state and federal police agencies, fire department, National Guard or Reserves.
Most of my tenure during Katrina was overseeing the dorm area. I was there to help people if they needed additional blankets, give directions to areas within the shelter, such as restrooms, showers, etc and other things to help them feel comfortable during their stay.
My time volunteering during Hurricane Harvey was slightly more varied than during Katrina. It is quite probable most of the same services I saw being offered during Harvey were likely also offered during Katrina. It is just that I served in the dorm area during Katrina and in additional areas during Harvey.
One time I oversaw the dorm area and other times I was called a “runner” and stationed in the registration area. Once one completed registration a “runner” would escort them to the dorm area where they would be assigned to a dorm area based on their family make-up.
The layout of the shelter was familiar to me as it was the same area in the convention center used during Katrina. Most everything was on the same parking lot floor as with Katrina.
Registration was on the west side of the building. This is where evacuees would register to stay in the shelter. They needed a picture ID. They would give their name, address, telephone numbers, etc. If they needed special assistance such as FEMA, help from the Veterans Administration, Social Security, or medical needs this is the area where they would have registered or learned where to go to get that type of help.
In the dorm areas families- men, women and children held the bulk of the dorm space. In another area there was a single-women area and in another area there was the single men area. There was even an area near the clinic where people needing hospital beds or medical attention were housed.
During registration there were medical personnel to evaluate medical needs. If a person needed prescription medicines they failed to bring with them they would be directed to an on-site pharmacy. If they had other medical needs they would be directed to a non-emergency type medical clinic. For people with severe medical needs they may have been evacuated to an area hospital.
My duties in the dorm area were much the same as during Katrina. During Harvey we did however, have people arrive after others had left the shelter to return home. For these people we had to locate clean cots as those of the departed people had been removed. For sanitary reasons cots could only be used one time.
Major efforts were maintained to keep the area sanitized. As a “runner” I was constantly going from the registration area to the dorm area and each time one passed a particular point there was someone standing at strategic points with a bottle of sanitizing lotion.
As one entered the shelter for the first time, they entered through the west entrance and went through the screening process. Which is described elsewhere.
After being screened a dorm pass was given to the “runner” and he/she asked the person/persons to sit in a waiting area “ to complete their registration”. The runner would then take the registration information to a law enforcement desk where the law enforcement official would conduct a criminal check. I had a man and his fiancé I was helping who did not pass muster. Initially the first screener, a sergeant from the State Adjutants office had a grimace on his face. He turned to the Dallas police officer. They has a conversation whereby they thought to man was the same they had found on the computer but the address was different than the registration stated. One of the officers went to the man and had a conversation. The law enforcement people deferred the card to the Red Cross Red Cross person in charge who later took the couple to another area and I never saw them again. I do not know if they went to another shelter or a homeless shelter in downtown Dallas or elsewhere.