“I remarked to the observer who was making the map that the Key West record, backed by the map as a whole, showed pretty plainly that there was a cyclone forming. He agreed with me, but said his office had received no notice of anything of the kind. Wednesday afternoon the tide in the Gulf was high and the water was rough, though there was no wind to cause the disturbance. Thursday afternoon the tide was again high and the water very rough, while the atmosphere had that peculiar hazy appearance that generally precedes a storm, though not to a marked degree.
“The wind was from the north, and during the night was rather brisk. Friday the wind was from the north, and as night came on it increased in violence. The tide was very high and the Gulf very rough, though as a rule with a north wind the tide is low and the Gulf as smooth as the bay. I was then confident that a cyclone was approaching us and accounted for the high tide by assuming that the storm was moving toward the northwest or against the Gulf stream, thus piling up the water in the Gulf.
KNEW CYCLONE WAS COMING.
“For my own satisfaction, and at the request of my friends, I constructed a chart, outlining roughly the origin, development and probable course of the cyclone. From the Key West observation and the map of Tuesday I assumed that the center of disturbance was originally somewhere south of Cuba; that it moved to the northwest as cyclones always do at first, and that the storm had developed into a cyclone in the neighborhood of Yucatan; would move to the northwest and strike somewhere near the mouth of the Mississippi, going thence to the northeast and passing into the Atlantic ocean off the New England coast. The error I made was in placing its course too far east.
“My residence was within two blocks of the beach, so I had ample opportunity to observe the Gulf. Friday night there was a strong wind from the north, and Saturday morning, about 6 o’clock, I went to the beach. I saw that the tide was high, but that it had fallen again and was then at a stand. While I was out there the tide began to rise again, and soon washed up to and over the street railway track near the Olympia. I was certain then we were going to have a cyclone, and so soon as I could get to town I telegraphed to my wife, who, with my children, was on a Southern Pacific train coming from the West, to stop in San Antonio. I told her that a great storm was on us, but not to say anything about it and not to feel anxious about me.
“By 12 o’clock the wind had increased in violence to between 40 and 50 miles an hour, blowing from the north, and the water, both in the bay and Gulf, was very high and still rising. At 1 o’clock I visited the wharf front. The wind had shifted a point or two to the east of north, and was over fifty miles an hour. The bay water was over the wharves and was slowly encroaching on the Strand. All low places were completely inundated.
LARGE BUILDINGS FLOATED PAST.
“From the bay I went to the Gulf side, and found the tide very high and the water very rough. At 2 o’clock I concluded to go home and look after things there. My residence was on the northeast corner of avenue P½ and Bath avenue. As both P½ and Bath avenues were low at that point, my sidewalk had been curbed up about four feet and the whole lot raised four or five feet above the level of the street. When I got home I found about two feet of water on my lot. I sat on my front gallery and watched the water. It rose gradually until the third step was under water, when it apparently stopped rising and for over an hour remained stationary.
“My house, a large two-story frame building, stood on brick pillars about four feet high, so I had no fear of the water coming into the house. I dismissed a negro boy I had with me, went inside and proceeded to secure the windows and doors, and to make everything ship-shape before dark, for I felt pretty sure the electric lights would all be knocked out.
“At 4 o’clock the water was two feet deep on my ground floor, and was rising gradually. The wind had hauled further to the east and was blowing at a terrific rate. I moved my chair near the window and watched the water as it flowed down avenue P½ the west at a terrific rate, carrying wretched shanties, boxes, barrels, wooden cisterns and everything else that fell in its power. The flow was almost exactly from east to west, just as the streets run, for a box or barrel that passed my house, in the middle of the street, kept the same position as far as I could see it.