PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
600 AM CDT TUE MAY 22 2007

...THE DEADLY CORPUS CHRISTI HURRICANE OF 1919...
...WRITTEN BY NWS CORPUS CHRISTI...

IN THE EARLY 1900S...CORPUS CHRISTI HAD BECOME THE SECOND LARGEST
PORT IN TEXAS BEHIND GALVESTON WITH NEARLY 20,000 PEOPLE RESIDING IN
THE SPARKLING CITY. OTHER COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN TEXAS HAD SUFFERED
DEVASTATING HURRICANES SINCE 1875. INDIANOLA WAS HIT TWICE BY
HURRICANES IN 1875 AND 1886. INDIANOLA NEVER RECOVERED AFTER THE
SECOND INVASION FROM THE SEA. GALVESTON SUFFERED THE GREATEST
NATURAL DISASTER IN UNITED STATES HISTORY WHEN OVER 8000
PEOPLE DIED IN 1900. A SECOND DISASTROUS HURRICANE WOULD VISIT
GALVESTON IN 1915.

RESIDENTS IN CORPUS CHRISTI BEGAN TO BELIEVE IN A FALSE SENSE OF
SECURITY THAT MAJOR HURRICANES WOULD NOT HIT THE COASTAL BEND. AND
IF ONE DID...THE BARRIER ISLANDS AND THE HIGH BLUFF THAT THE CITY
WAS SITUATED ON WOULD PROTECT IT. IN 1916...A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE
MADE LANDFALL SOUTH OF BAFFIN BAY. THERE WERE RELATIVELY FEW
CASUALTIES AND ONLY MINOR DAMAGE IN CORPUS CHRISTI. THIS ONLY
HEIGHTENED THE COMPLACENCY WITH REGARDS TO PREPAREDNESS. THIS WOULD
END IN SEPTEMBER OF 1919.

A TROPICAL STORM FORMED NEAR THE BAHAMAS IN EARLY SEPTEMBER OF 1919.
IT WOULD INTENSIFY INTO A HURRICANE ON SEPTEMBER 7 AS IT APPROACHED
SOUTHERN FLORIDA. IT BECAME ONE OF THE STRONGEST HURRICANES ON
RECORD TO MOVE INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. IT BATTERED KEY WEST WITH
SUSTAINED WINDS UP TO 150 MPH AS THE CENTRAL PRESSURE FELL TO 927
MILLIBARS. THIS HURRICANE...A STRONG CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE...WOULD MAINTAIN ITS INTENSITY AS IT TREKKED
WESTWARD ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO.

UNCERTAINTY GREW ABOUT THE HURRICANES POSITION ONCE THE STORM MOVED
INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.  TIDES ROSE TO 6 FEET ABOVE NORMAL AT LAKE
PONTCHARTRAIN AND GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA ON SEPTEMBER 13. EXPECTATIONS
WERE THAT THE HURRICANE WOULD MOVE INTO THE UPPER TEXAS COAST OR
LOUISIANA. HOWEVER...DURING THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 13...IT BECAME
APPARENT THE STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE COASTAL BEND AS TIDES ROSE
TO 5 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL AT PORT ARANSAS AT SUNSET.

THE HURRICANE WEAKENED BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL JUST SOUTH OF CORPUS
CHRISTI ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 14 AS A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE
WITH A CENTRAL PRESSURE AROUND 950 MILLIBARS AND SUSTAINED WINDS OF
115 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 150 MPH. THE STORM SURGE ROLLED INTO
THE TEXAS COAST WITH TIDES RISING TO 8 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL AT
SABINE AND PORT ISABEL...9 FEET AT GALVESTON...AND 13 FEET AT PORT O
CONNOR.

BUT THE WORST DAMAGE WAS AT CORPUS CHRISTI AS THE STORM SURGE
REACHED 15 TO 16 FEET. ONLY TWO BUILDINGS SURVIVED IN THE NORTH
BEACH AREA BUT WERE BOTH SEVERELY DAMAGED. DEBRIS PILED UP TO 15
FEET IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA OF CORPUS CHRISTI. DAMAGE WAS ESTIMATED AT
OVER 20 MILLION DOLLARS WHICH RELATES TO ALMOST 14 BILLION DOLLARS
AS A NORMALIZATION ESTIMATE TO 2006 DOLLARS. 121 BODIES AND 87
SURVIVORS WERE SWEPT 7 MILES ACROSS NUECES BAY TO WHITES POINT. MOST
OF THE BODIES WERE COVERED IN CRUDE OIL AS BARRELS AT PORT ARANSAS
WERE BREACHED DURING THE STORM.

THE EXACT DEATH TOLL FROM THIS HURRICANE IN CORPUS CHRISTI AND FOR
ITS ENTIRE PATH ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL NEVER BE KNOWN. THE
OFFICIAL NUMBER OF FATALITIES AT CORPUS CHRISTI WAS LISTED AT 287
BUT THESE WERE ONLY THE ONES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED. THE ACTUAL NUMBER
OF THOSE THAT LOST THEIR LIVES HAS BEEN ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 400
AND 1000 PEOPLE. EVEN WITH THE LOWER NUMBER...THIS HURRICANE WAS THE
SECOND DEADLIEST WEATHER EVENT TO AFFECT TEXAS IN ITS HISTORY...ONLY
BEHIND THE 1900 GALVESTON HURRICANE. THE STEAMSHIP VALBANERA WAS
SUNK OFF THE NORTH COAST OF CUBA IN THE HURRICANE WITH ALL 488
PASSENGERS AND CREW LOST. NINE OTHER VESSELS WERE LOST AT SEA. THE
ESTIMATED TOTAL DEATH TOLL FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER FOR
THIS HURRICANE IS AROUND 900 PEOPLE.

ONE FACT THAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT THIS HURRICANE...ONE PERSON WHO
EVACUATED CORPUS CHRISTI BEFORE THE HURRICANE ARRIVED WAS ROBERT
SIMPSON. HE WOULD LATER BECOME HEAD OF THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER
AND DEVISE THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE FOR CATEGORIZING HURRICANE
INTENSITY.