| Identified | 4,754 | |
| Unidentified (recovered) | 300 | |
| Missing | 2,000 | |
| Total | 7,054 | |
| Dead in Central and Southern Texas | 1,044 | |
| High Island | 563 | |
| Total | 1,607 |
This makes the grand total of dead 8,661.
The horrifying news reached Dallas late on the afternoon of September 18 that High Island, a seaside resort thirty miles northeast of Galveston, near the gulf shore and in the southwestern corner of Jefferson county, Tex., was entirely destroyed by the hurricane of the 8th inst.
The place had about 1,000 residents, many of them visitors.
Not a house was left standing and more than 400 dead bodies were found by relief and exploring parties.
General Manager Spangler, of the Gulf and Interstate Railway, also received information on that date that more than thirty miles of that road had been entirely destroyed between Bolivar Point and High Island.
After looking over the situation carefully, the decision was arrived at, ten days succeeding the tragedy, that to put Galveston on her feet would require $5,000,000. Such was the opinion of Congressman Hawley, one of the city’s representative business men. This did not mean that the sum mentioned would come anywhere near restoring the city to the condition before the storm. Far from it.
Mr. Hawley did not so intend to be understood. He was asked:
“What measure of relief will burn your dead, clean and purify your streets and public places, feed and clothe the living, and place your people where they can be self-sustaining and on the way to regain what has been lost?”
His reply was: “It will take $5,000,000 to relieve Galveston from the distress of the storm. At least that sum will be needed to dispose of the dead, to remove the ruins, and to do what is right for the living. I think that we should not only feed and clothe, but that we ought to have some means to help people who have lost everything to make a start toward the restoration of their homes. To do this will require every dollar of $5,000,000.”