NATURAL DISASTERS IN EARLY 20 TH CENTURY AMERICA

1. NATURAL DISASTERS IN EARLY 20TH CENTURYAMERICA By Jamie A. and Laura H. Horace Greeley Chappaqua, NY

2. What role did government agencies play in dealing with the natural disasters of the early 20th century?

3. The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 The worst natural disaster in US history

4. The Great Galveston, Texas The New York of the Gulf Wall Street of the Southwest • A booming town • Population 36,000 and an annual population increase of 3% • Texas’ first post office, telephones, and medical college • A main southern port

5. A Storm Surges

6. Weather Bureau By the end of the 1800’s Cuba was known as the best weather forecasters in the world. The Spanish American War broke out in 1898 creating a tension between the American weather bureau and the Cuban Bureau. Feelings of animosity towards Cuba began thus causing the American Weather Bureau to ignore Cuban reports.

7. US Weather Bureau and Cuba • Based in Washington DC and headed by Willis Moore • Regarded Cubans as informants as inferior and alarmists • Moore instituted a ban on all transmission of West Indian Storm Reports from Bureaus in Havana to New Orleans • Wrote the Western Union on August 28th to enforce a cable ban.

8. Reasons for Shunning Cuba • Bad Weather would Harm the economy. • American superiority and professionalism. • An attitude that data collected by a government agency is owned by that government/ agency and shouldn’t be shared. • Different weather predictions.

9. A storm is growing • Formed off the cost of Africa (Cape Verde) on August 27th • Moved towards the southern cost of the US and hit the Florida Keys and Cuba. Storm started to curve north...but quickly changed its path • The Cuban Weather Bureau predicted that the storm would revert back on its path towards the Gulf of Mexico while the US weather Bureau stated it would continue moving north and then they issued a storm warning in New Jersey

10. Isaac Cline • Isaac Cline was the U.S. Weather Bureau climatologist in Galveston. Was well respected and very trusted although his conclusions about storms were extremely inaccurate • “West Indies hurricanes are not a problem for Texas because they always recurve to the north before reaching the Western Gulf of Mexico.” • “Shallow water offshore from Galveston will protect the island from hurricane waves.” • “Buildings can be constructed to survive a hurricane”

11. Signs of a storm on Waves pounded the shores Barometric pressure dropped rapidly Fish-scale clouds moved inland (sign of rain) Confusion about the storm Ambiguous telegraphs from the D.C. headquarters D.C. never issued a hurricane warning Some signs of a hurricane were missing leading to further confusion Isaac and the Storm

12. A Hurricane Comes to Conquer

13. Initial Reaction to the Storm • People were not expecting any type of hurricane and thus fourth took no measures to protect themselves. People went about their normal business in the rain and played in the water that was flooding their city. • When the train tracks flooded people waded in the water so that they wouldn’t miss their lunch appointments and business meetings.

14. The Strom Came • Winds that reached 150mph and stronger • Tidal surge from 15 to 20 feet • By 3 pm the entire island was submerged and by 12 midnight, 15 foot waves destroyed buildings

15. The Orphanage • On the beach of the island of Galveston was an orphanage of 10 nuns and 93 children. • To calm the children the nuns had them sing “Queen of the Waves” • Click here to hear Queen of the Waves • The nuns tied themselves to six to eight children using clothesline rope, in order to keep them all together.

16. The Orphanage • The dormitory building was lifted from its foundation and the roof collapsed, trapping everyone inside. • The only survivors were three 13 year old boys. video of orphanage

17. Seeking Safety • Hundreds fled to the Tremont hotel which sheltered thousands from the storm. • Wreckage of the Tremont Hotel • 50 People fled to Isaac Clines house which lay 2 feet above the highest flooding point ever recorded. • His house eventually collapsed between 7 and 8 pm. Only 18 people from the house survived.

18. The Island Stands Alone • Telegraph lines went down after 3:30 pm • Took days for word of the storm to get out • Trains were washed off the tracks • Water flooded the tracks in the downtown terminal • A steamship broke free of its moorings and destroyed 3 bridges to the mainland

19. A City in Shambles

20. Aftermath of the Storm Death Toll: Between 8,000- 12,000 people Orphanage deaths: All 10 nuns and 90 children 3,600 homes destroyed $700 million of today's dollars lost from the wreckage of commercial structures

21. Rebuilding a City

22. Confronting the Disaster People awoke to a city covered in debris A view of 27th street and Avenue M

23. Confronting the Disaster Dead bodies lay buried around the city. Workers attempted to pull them out and identify them. They were eventually cremated where ever their bodies were found

24. Videos post Hurricane Survivors search for bodies Destroyed Waterfront Docks after the storm

25. Help! We need Somebody!

26. Effecting Business Around the World

27. The Red Cross • Under the leadership of Clara Barton the Red Cross went to help Galveston • The Red Cross established an orphanage for storm victims and helped collect lumber to rebuild houses. • The organization raised money by selling photographs of the storm devastation. Clara Barton

28. Sept. 9th Mayor Walter C. Jones called an emergency council meeting and formed the Central Relief Committee The Galveston Daily News continues publishing and never missed an issue Telegraph and water service were restored Lines for a new telephone system were laid After 3 weeks saloons reopened, electric trolleys operated and freight began to move through the harbors. Pulling Together

29. Fixing a Broken City: Putting up a Seawall A seawall was built from 6th street to 39th street in order to protect the city from future hurricanes

30. Fixing a Broken City: Raising the Elevation Alfred Novel, Henry M. Robert and H.C. Ripley had the ingenious idea to raise the city to the height of the seawall. • The city was elevated 17 feet • 2,156 houses had to be raised to accommodate the heightened elevation. • Streets, sidewalks, sewer lines, ad entire infrastructures had to be raised.

31. Fixing a Broken City: Raising the Elevation • 16 million cubic yards of sand were imported onto the island • The sand was dredged from Galveston’s own ship channel and pumped into quarter-square-mile sections of the city

32. Galveston could recover the living conditions on the island but never regained its status

33. The Great San Francisco Earthquake & Fire of 1906 An unparalleled disaster in the history of San Francisco

34. Those who dwell in the city of San Francisco and in the whole area affected by the great earthquake felt from the first that they were living though an historic epoch and that the eyes of the world were fixed upon them. As the great fire spread, even those who lost their homes and saw the city of their love being consumed by flames, realized that they were in the presence of one of the most tremendous conflagrations ever known and felt in the very magnitude of the disaster the realization of the fact that its magnitude gave it a permanent place in history. - How the History of the Disaster is Being Made, Henry Morse Stephens

35. The Gateway to the Pacific • At the time of the disaster, San Francisco had been the 9th largest city in the U.S. & the largest city on the west coast • From the 1840’s up until the disaster, the city had become the financial, trade, and cultural center of the West • It operated the busiest port on the west coast and was known as “the gateway to the Pacific,” through which the growing US economy and military power was projected into the Pacific and Asia

36. April 18, 1906 • San Francisco was rudely awakened at 5:13 a.m. by a great earthquake • Hundreds, perhaps thousands of trapped persons died when South-of-Market tenements collapsed as the ground liquefied beneath them • Most of the collapsed buildings immediately caught fire and trapped victims could rarely be rescued in time • The situation was then made worse by the Great Fire that burned for 4 days straight

37. The Shock • The effect of the earthquake was felt from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Los Angeles, and as far east as central Nevada • The earthquake shock therefore consisted of an area of 375,000 square miles • The extreme destruction consisted of an area of 400 miles, from the southern part of Fresno County to Eureka • The main shock epicenter occurred offshore about 2 miles from the city, near Mussel Rock. It ruptured along the San Andreas Fault both northward and southward, for a total length of 296 miles

38. San Andreas Fault A geological fault that runs through western and southern California- It’s roughly 800 miles long - After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake it was discovered that this fault stretched well southward into Southern California

39. The Aftershock • For the 10 days following April 18th it was impossible for anyone to purchase supplies • Most of the warehouses containing food supplies were lost in the fire • The warehouses that were saved were seized by civil authorities to feed the hungry population • The financial district was in mass ruins. There was no money and rich and poor alike were compelled to stand in the bread lines • After the disaster there was a period of several days where inclement weather added much to the suffering of all • In the burnt district the streets were impassible • One of the most important duties was the clearing of the streets to facilitate transportation

40. The Total Effects • More than 4.7 square miles of San Francisco burned and crumbled “into a windswept desert of desolation” known as the “burned district” • 225-300 thousand people (out of San Francisco’s 450,000) were left homeless by the disaster After the disaster • More than 3,000 deaths were caused directly or indirectly by the catastrophe • 28,188 buildings were destroyed • Monetary loss: more than $400,000,000 in 1906 dollars (around 6.5 billion dollars today) • $80,000,000 from the earthquake • $320,000,000 from the fires

41. Mayor E.E. Schmitz issues a A proclamation:April 18 • Schmitz orders gas & electric lighting companies to turn off gas & electricity • Tells the citizens to “expect the city to remain in darkness for an indefinite time” • Orders police force, “special police officers”, and federal troops to kill all people involved in crime or “looting” • Orders citizens to stay at home everyday from sunset to sunrise, until “order is restored” • Orders citizens to stay at home everyday from sunset to sunrise, until “order is restored”

42. Downplaying the Damage • There were over 3,000 deaths, the U.S. Army relief operations recorded only 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa, & 102 deaths in/near San Jose • At the time the average number of deaths reported to the public was 375 • This figure was concocted by government officials/ political and business leaders who felt that reporting the true death toll would hurt real estate prices, the effort to rebuild the San Francisco, & outside investment in the city • Also, hundreds of deaths in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded due to racism at the time • Due to the almost universal practice of insurers to protect San Francisco properties from fire and not earthquake damage, most damage through the city was blamed on the fires

43. The Subsequent Fires • Though the earthquake was strong, the fires that burned afterwards were much more destructive to the city • Fires broke out all through the city. Many were fueled by natural gas mains that were broken by the quake • Many other fires were the result of arson and campfires set by refugees • Several fires in the downtown merged to become one giant “inferno” • The fires lasted for 4 days and 4 nights, & ultimately destroyed over 500 city blocks

44. View from Laguna and Market streets of the Great Fire burning through the Mission District

45. The Army’s Role in the Aftermath • During the first few days the soldiers provided valuable services patrolling streets to discourage looting • The army helped to guard buildings such as the U.S. Mint, post office, & county jail • They aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of the fire Fifth Street entrance to the U.S. Mint after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The area around the building became a refugee village

46. Help of the Army • The U.S.S. Preble from Mare Island set up multiple hospital shore parties to help the wounded and dying who sought help at Harbor Emergency Hospital • 16 enlisted men and 2 officers from the USS Chicago supervised the rescue of 20,000 refugees fleeing the Great Fire • Panic was prevented in San Francisco by the co-operation of the military & civil authorities, aided by unselfish citizens, who sacrificed their own property for the general good • Without the army there would have been much chaos and anarchy

47. The Role of the U.S. Army Medical Department • After the earthquake and fire the most admirable sanitary and emergency work was done by the officers and men of the medical department under Colonel G.H. Torney • General Funston placed Colonel Torney as the head of the sanitation department and said all of his orders must be strictly followed • This gave the Medical Department unrestricted power and enabled them to act promptly & effectively in meeting the emergency problems of sanitation

48. The Relocation & Housing of the Displaced • The U.S. Army became responsible for feeding, sheltering, and clothing the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the city • The Army built 5,610 redwood and fir “relief houses” to accommodate the 20,000 displaced people • The temporary homes were divided into 11 camps packed close together. The camps had a peak population of 16, 448 people, but by 1907 most had moved out

49. Many refugees built shanties from any available materials to house themselves after the disaster. This encampment is near the Marina. The Army later provided tents for refugees

50. Presidio of San Francisco Relief Camp:One of several large relief camps established by the U.S. Army at the Presidio of San Francisco