Isaac's Storm (54 page)

168.
Isaac
reported:
Ibid.,
94.

169.
Joseph
gave
himself:
Cline,
Joseph,
51.

170.
Along
the
way:
Tapp,
8.

171. Stay
put,
Isaac
said.:
First
Baptist
Church,
2.
Weems,74.

171. "Those
who
lived":
Cline,
"Special
Report,"
373.

171. "Many
went
to
his
house":
Personal
Accounts:
Blagden,
6.

171. "Every
little
board":
Personal
Accounts:
Bettencourt,
16.

171. The
water
was:
Cline,
Joseph,
53.

171. Meek
deep:
Cline,
"Special
Report,"
373.

171. "He
knew
better":
Cline,Joseph,
53.

172. Evacuate:
Ibid.,
53;
Cline,
"Special
Report,"373.

172. Stay:
Cline,
"Special
Report,"
373.

PART
IV:
CATACLYSM

Telegram

175. We
have
been:
Telegram.
National
Archives:
General
Correspondence.

The
East
Side:
Louisa
Rollfing

176. August
Rollfing:
Rollfing,
3:4.

178.
At
about
two:
Cline,
Tropical
Cyclones,
246.
178.
She
watched
quietly:
Rollfing,
3:3.

Avenue
P'A:
Parents
and,
Their
Choices

179.
At
two
o'clock:
Young,
2.

180.
The
water
moved
fastest:
Author's
analysis.
Most
of
the
city's
streets
were
lined
with
high
curbs,
which
acted
like
erosion
gullies
to
channel
the
flow
of
water.

180.
Young
saw:
Young,
2.
Specifically,
Young
recalls
seeing
"wrecked
shanties,
boxes,
barrels,
wooden
cisterns
and
everything
else
that
fell
in
[the
current's]
power."
That
carriages
and
outhouses
and
myriad
other
things
floated
within
is
beyond
question.
He
makes
no
mention
of
seeing
bodies,
however
—
although
by
that
time
there
were
many
embedded
in
the
current
coursing
through
the
city.

181.
"Being
entirely
alone":
Young,
2.

181.
As
Louise
Hopkins:
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
"The
Day,"
1-4.

181.
There
were
boxes
and
boards:
Again,
the
flow
carried
all
manner
of
debris.
It
also
carried
snakes.
After
the
storm,
one
captain
reported
encountering
snakes
far
out
in
the
Gulf.
See
note
for
page
202,
Venomous
snakes.

182.
Louise
noticed
that:
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
"The
Day,"
5.

183. At
precisely
2:30
P.M.:
Daily
Journal.

183.
At
5:15,
the
wind:
Daily
Journal.

183.
"We
had
a
warm
feeling":
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
"The
Day,"
6.

184.
"When
it
was
lighted":
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
Interview,
14-15.

184.
A
neighbor
couple:
First
Baptist
Church,
2.

185.
It
grew
cysts:
Personal
Accounts:
Cortes,
4.
185.
At
7:00
P.M.:
First
Baptist
Church,
2.
185.
"I
cannot
pray":
Ibid.,
2.

185.
Garry
Burnett
recommended:
Ibid.,
2.

25th
and
Q:
Isaac
Cline

188.
"At
this
time":
Cline,
"Special
Report,"373.

188.
At
6:30P.M.:
Ibid.,
373.

188.
The
sea
was
strangely
flat:
Young,
3.

188.
The
Neville
house:
Photograph.
2502
Avenue
Q.
Rosenberg
Library.
Street
File:
Avenue
Q.

188.
It
contained
homes:
Rollfing,
3:
7.
For
the
most
vivid
record
of
destruction,
see
the
Rosenberg
Library's
collection
of
aftermath
photographs,
some
of
which
are
quite
grisly.
One
photograph,
G-l
771,
File
7.5,
No.
13,
shows
a
vast
plain
of
wreckage
where
Isaac
Cline's
neighborhood
had
once
existed.
Another,
G-1771,
File
1.2,
No.
8,
shows
six
men
apparently
about
to
bury
the
body
of
a
woman.
She
is
well
and
elaborately
dressed
in
pantaloons
with
horizontal
stripes
and
a
dress
printed
with
bold,
broad
vertical
stripes.
The
men
represent
a
cross-section
of
society.
One
is
black,
his
face
deeply
furrowed
with
an
expression
of
distaste.
It
is
possible
he
is
expressing
disdain
for
the
photographer.
Another
member
of
the
party
is
young,
clean-shaven,
and
handsome,
dressed
neatly
in
a
long-sleeved
white
shirt,
straw
hat,
and
suit
pants.
Close
examination
with
a
magnifying
glass
reveals
that
his
eyes
are
closed.
The
men
stand
in
a
great
sea
of
shattered
boards.

189.
"I
was
standing":
Cline,
"Special
Report,"373.

189.
(Joseph
claims
...
:
Cline,
Joseph,
53.

189.
The
brothers
herded:
Ibid.

189.
"These
observations":
Cline,
"Special
Report,"373.

190.
One
block
north:
Young,
2.
190.
"The
debris
fairly
flew":
Ibid.,
2.

190.
One
witness:
Galveston
Galveston
News,
Sept.
13,1900,5.

190.
Dr.
Cline's
house:
Author's
analysis,
based
on
Young's
proximity
to
Isaac
Cline's
house,
and
the
orientation
of
his
house.
Young,
2.
See
also
Fire
Insurance
Map.
Regarding
the
absence
of
Cline's
galleries,
see
Cline,Joseph,
53.

191.
"Strangely
enough":
Cline,Joseph,
53.

192.
"Iurgedthem":lbid.,53.

192.
In
Dallas,
three
hundred:
Acheson,
211;
Mason,
106.

192.
(whose
Galveston
agent:
See
death
list,
Galveston
News,
Sept.
14,1900.
W.
Pil-ford
of
the
Mexican
Cable
Company
is
listed,
along
with
his
four
children,
Madge,
Willie,Jack,
and
Georgianna.
The
list
cites
the
location
where
they
were
killed
as
"Twenty-fifth
and
Q."
Isaac's
corner.

192. At
that
moment:
Acheson,
211;
Mason,
106.

The
Levy
Building:
Vital
Signs

193. Saturday
evening,
John
Blagden:
Personal
Accounts:
Blagden,
1-2.

193.
Meteorologists
discovered:
Cline,
"Special
Report,"
3
74.

194.
Barometric
pressure
had
fallen:
Daily
Journal.

194.
In
Galveston
harbor:
Weems,
101.

195.
The
hull
was
built:
Ibid.,
102.

195.
In
the
train
station:
First
Baptist
Church,
4.
195.
Years
later,
scientists:
Rappaport
and
Fernandez-Partagas,
9.
195.
"Assuming
that
the
reading":
Garriott,
"West
Indian,"
392.
195.
The
bureau
later
estimated:
Monthly
Weather
Review,
Sept.
1900,424.
195.
Each
would
generate:
For
an
excellent
discussion
of
wind
force
and
effects,
see
Zebrowski,
248-51

195.
Captain
Storms:
Mason,
160.

196.
One
man
tied
his
shoes:
Personal
Accounts:
Wolfram,
1.
196.
A
survivor
identified:
Personal
Accounts:
"Charlie,"
1-2.
196.
One
of
the
deadliest:
Pielke
and
Pielke,
199.

196. In
1876
Henry
Blanford:
Monthly
Weather
Review,
"What
Is
a
Storm
Wave?"

Oct.
1901,461.

197. In
October:
Garriott,"West
Indian,"391.

197.
If
a
hurricane
strikes:
Henry
et
al.,
19.

197.
In
effect,
the
storm's
trajectory:
Cline,
"Relation,"
208.
Garriott,
"West
Indian,"
391;
for
a
summary
of
the
hurricane's
character
and
path,
see
384-92.

198.
The
first
shift:
Cline,
Tropical
Cyclones,
246.

198. At
7:30
P.M.,
the
wind:
Cline,
"Special
Report,"
373.
Cline,
"Relation,"
207.

Avenue
P'A:
The
Wind
and
Dr.
Young

199.
About
seven
o
'clock:
Young,
2.

200.
A
single
cubic
yard:
Cline,
"Relation,"
203.
200.
One
man
reported:
First
Baptist
Church,
34.

200.
"It
turned
partly":
Young,
3.

201.
"The
wind
at
125."lbid.

201.
"The
drops
of
rain":
Ibid.

202.
Venomous
snakes:
Henry
et
al.,
19,
23.
Here
I
make
the
assumption
diat
phenomena
common
in
later
hurricanes
were
likely
to
have
occurred
in
the
Galveston
hurricane.
Henry
et
al.
cite
Hurricane
Audrey,
which
struck
the
Louisiana
coast
in
1957.
"It
is
thought
that
the
majority
of
people
who
drowned
sought
safety
by
climbing
into
high
trees
and
then
fell
into
the
rising
flood
waters
after
they
were
bitten
by
snakes
also
taking
refuge
in
the
trees"
(19).
Later,
they
state,
"Snakes,
which
are
strong
swimmers,
will
be
along
roads,
in
the
remains
of
buildings,
in
trees,
and
in
other
high
and
dry
places"
(23).
A
schooner,
Viva,
out
of
Corpus
Christi,
arrived
in
Galveston
soon
after
the
storm.
A
passenger,

Leopold
Morris,
told
a
Galveston
News
reporter
he
saw
large
snakes
swimming
in
the
Gulf.
"The
snakes
seemed
to
plead
for
a
ride
on
the
boat,
and
if
ever
I
saw
a
serpent
look
kindly
toward
a
human
being
those
were
the
ones."
Galveston
News,
Sept.
16,1900.

202.
A
rocket
of
timber:
Cartwright,
"Big
Blow,"
114.

202.
At
the
expensive
Lucas
Terrace:
Mason,
126-27.
For
a
compelling
photograph
of
Lucas
Terrace
before
and
after
the
storm,
see
Weems,
plates,
between
84
and
85.

202.
At
another
address:
Mason,
157-58.

203.
"The
house
rose":
Young,
3.

25th
and
Q:
What
Joseph
Saw

204. "As
the
house
capsized":
Cline,Joseph,
54.

204.
"All
the
other
occupants":
Ibid.

205.
"I
had
hoped":
Md.,55.

The
Beach:
Ruby
Credo

206.
As
soon
as
Ruby
Credo's:
Tapp,
8-9.

207.
"The
water
was
rising":
Ibid.,
9.

207.
"When
our
house":
Mason,
111.

208.
"We
could
lie
back":Tapp,
10.

25th
and
Q:
What
Isaac
Did

210. When
the
trestle
struck:
Cline,
Storms,
96.

The
Beach:
A
Light
in
the
Window

211.
Her
sister,
Lois:
Personal
Accounts:
Hopkins,
"The
Day,"
7.

212.
The
ten
sisters:
St.
Mary's.
See
also
Cartwright,
"Big
Blow,"
115,
and
Mason,
148-51.

212.
A
few
older
children:
St.
Mary's.
There
is
some
disagreement
as
to
the
name
of
one
of
the
three
survivors.
Mason,
at
151,
identifies
him
as
Francis
Bulnavic.
The
St.
Mary's
booklet
says
his
name
was
Frank
Madera.
I
chose
Bulnavic
arbitrarily.
Where
all
accounts
agree
is
that
only
three
boys
among
the
orphanage's
ninety-three
children
survived.

213.
Later,
a
rescuer:
St.
Mary's.
Also,
Ousley,
114-15.
In
another
macabre
sighting,
a
steward
aboard
the
Mallory
liner
Alamo
said,
"One
of
the
saddest
sights
I
saw
was
the
dead
bodies
of
a
Sister
of
Charity
and
three
little
boys
lashed
together
floating
in
the
water."
The
Mew
York
Times,
Sept.
23,1900.

213.
August
Rollfing
sat
alone:
For
August's
story,
see
Rollfing,
3:
4-7.

25th
and
Q:
Isaac's
Voyage

217. He
was
alone:
Cline,
Storms,
96.