The Great Galveston Disaster / Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

WIND A HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR.

The strongest wind blew later in the evening, when it shifted to the southeast and attained a velocity of from 110 to 120 miles an hour. The exact velocity was not recorded, owing to the destruction of the wind gauge of the United States Weather Bureau after it had registered a 100–miles-an-hour blow for two minutes. This terrific southeast wind blew the sea of debris inland and piled it up in a hill ranging from ten to twenty feet high and marking the line of the storm’s path along the southeastern edge of the island.

In one place near Tremont street and Avenue P four roofs and remnants of four houses are jammed within a space of about twenty-five feet square. Beneath this long ridge many hundred men, women and children were buried, and cattle, horses and dogs and other animals were piled together in one confused mass. While every house in the city or suburbs suffered more or less from the hurricane and encroachment of the Gulf waters, the above section suffered the most in being swept as clean as a desert. Another area extending east to Thirteenth street and south of Broadway to the Gulf suffered greatly, and few of the buildings withstood the storm, none without being damaged to a more or less extent. From Tremont street and Avenue P½ wind came northward for about two blocks and then cut across westward to the extreme limits of the city; in fact, swept clear on down the island for many miles. The path of the levelled ground west from Avenue P cleared the several blocks, extending south to the beach and west to Twenty-seventh street. It cut diagonally southwest on a straight line within three blocks of the beach and down west on the beach many miles beyond the city limits. This does not mean that the path of the storm was confined to this stretch of territory—not by any means. There were many blocks in the centre of the city almost totally demolished by the fury of the wind and sea, but the above long line of about four miles of the city proper and many miles of country land were swept clean of buildings and all other obstructions.