Texas Hurricane History:
Early 20th Century

June 26th, 1902: A tropical storm was noticed off the northern coast of Nicaragua on the 18th of June. It moved west-northwest into the Southern Gulf of Mexico, before turning to the northwest on the 22nd. The storm became a hurricane about 100 miles off the coast of Tampico on the 24th. It then took a more northerly course, grazing the length of Padre Island before it stuck Port Lavaca. Texas had gone 6 weeks without rainfall, and area crops were beginning to fail. For the corn crop, it was too late. Withered stalks were easily blown down by the wind. Cotton and rice, in general, were helped out greatly by the storm, to the tune of several million dollars.

On the night of the 26th, a high southeast wind was seen at Galveston, with gusts to 65 mph at 3 am on the 27th. A freight train was blown from the track between 8 and 9 P.M. at East Bernard as a tornado touched down in Wharton County. This twister moved northeast to sweep through Krasna, near Wallis, killing 5. A severe sand storm blasted Franklin, in Robertson County. At El Campo, fruit was whipped off trees. Windmills and chimneys were the main casualties in Edna. Louise and Ganado saw outhouses and barns leveled. Corpus Christi saw 36 mph winds. Bathing piers were demolished at La Porte. Morgan's Point was under 3 feet of water.

Heavy rains were common with this large system. Greater than 6 inches of rain, accompanied by gale force winds, hit La Porte. Over 100 tons of hay was ruined west of town. Alvin saw 50 mph winds and tremendous amounts of rain. Rock Island reported more than 6 inches. In Houston, trees were uprooted and outhouses destroyed by the gale. Electric wires were downed. Navasota also had a stiff gale. Lavaca County had trees uprooted and damage to its sorghum crop. Inland sections of East Texas endured flash flooding. Nacogdoches drowned in 14.22" of rain in a 24 hour period. This swelled Lanana and Bonita creeks. All the bridges were swept away and communication was cut off to the outside world. The south side of town was underwater. In Greg and Harrison Counties, heavy rains washed out the Texas and Pacific railroads. Flooding occurred across the Upper Sabine Basin as well. The area between Lanana and Lufkin was described as a "perfect sea".

The storm continued moving northward through Eastern Texas, before becoming extratropical in Eastern Oklahoma/ Western Arkansas on the 27th. It wrecked havoc on the 28th and 29th. Heavy rain fell in Missouri. Tornadoes were seen in Indiana. A four day long rain event cooled and soaked Nebraska, keeping temperatures in the 50's. And a unique event happened in Denver - the storm in the Plains set up a moist easterly wind which caused a rare Late June snowstorm; 8 inches fell in all.

1909: A storm was noted entering the Eastern Caribbean on the 13th of July. It moved towards the west-northwest, passing over the Isle of Pines on the 17/18th. This motion continued, and on the 21st it made landfall near Velasco. One-half of the town was destroyed. The calm of the eye passed over the city for 45 minutes. The storm surge was as high as 20 feet. At Bay City, the pressure fell to 29.00" at 2:30 P.M.. Property damage was estimated at 2 million dollars and 41 lives were lost. The storm surge at Galveston was 10 feet; five of the people perished there.

1909: On August 21st, a storm was seen east of the Virgin Islands. It tracked westward just south of the Greater Antilles. Many houses were wrecked at Mole St. Nicholas, Haiti by the high easterly gales. Havana had northeast winds of 60 m.p.h. on the 24th. As the storm passed through the Yucatan Channel, the captain of the ship S.S. Cartago sent a wireless message to New Orleans, giving an account of the estimated 100 m.p.h. winds he had sailed through. This was the first wireless message to be used real time from a ship at sea from a tropical cyclone.

As the system approached the Mexican coast, gales and tremendous seas were experienced along the south Texas coast; some sites experiencing their highest tides in many years. At Tarpon Beach, every building except the lighthouse and quarantine station were destroyed by the storm surge. Wreckage washed ashore Point Island, 3 miles away. Point Isabel was underwater. About 1500 people perished in Mexico as a result of floods caused by the storm. There were no reported deaths in Texas.

September 14th, 1910: A hurricane struck the lower Texas coast. South Padre Island experienced a pressure of 28.50" and winds of 120 mph. Padre Island was totally submerged during landfall.

October 16th, 1912: Winds of 55 mph howled through Brownsville as a hurricane made landfall between there and Corpus Christi. Heavy rain was accompanied with the storm. The steamship Nicaragua was wrecked 80 miles down Padre Island. Two of the ship's boilers can still be seen there.

June 27th-July 3rd, 1913: Greenville saw a flash flood associated with a hurricane that originally made landfall near Corpus Christi. Montell in Uvalde County received 20.6" of rain in 19 hours. The flood peaked at 4 PM on the 27th, reaching as high as 3 to 4 feet inside area homes. The storm surge was 12.7' at Galveston. Over $1 million in damages occurred.

August 16th, 1915: A monstrous hurricane formed near the Cape Verde Islands on August 4th and moved just south of the Greater Antilles, to reach the Texas coast near Galveston on the 16th. It was a storm of great diameter. In Galveston, many people with memories of the 1900 hurricane still fresh in their mind, fled for the hills. Storm surges of 12 feet were seen at Galveston, inundating the business district to a depth of 5 or 6 feet. Many houses were demolished and all beach front bathhouses were washed away.

The Bolivar Point lighthouse, near Galveston, became a refuge for sixty people during the hurricane. The oil supply for the lighthouse was carried away by the storm surge. This caused a two day outage following the storm (Roberts 105). The cistern of the Redfish Bar light was torn away. The superstructure of the Galveston Jetty light was damaged. Within days, the city began recovery. A storm surge of 15.3 feet above mean low gulf was noted at Virginia Point. The Trinity Shoals buoys, weighing 15 tons including the chain, was dragged 10 miles west of its previous location.

Velasco had a pressure of 28.14". Houston saw winds gusting to 62 m.p.h.. Despite ample warnings from the Weather Bureau 24 hours in advance, 275 people died in the storm (12 on Galveston Island, none of which were behind the seawall). Damage was estimated as high as 50 million dollars.

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* Author's current affiliation: NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, Camp Springs, Maryland