Dangers from the sea: Considerations of the 1900 Galveston hurricane

Abstract

Within the context of homeland security, all organizations must acknowledge the potential of disasters when crafting strategy and pondering contingencies because any number of threats has the potential to disrupt business operations and continuity. Although numerous incidents have affected modern society, the 1900 Galveston hurricane remains the deadliest natural disaster in American history, even surpassing the death tolls of hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. This article examines the Galveston incident from the perspective of communications and the emergency management cycle. Insight is provided regarding the efforts of modern organizations to address possible threats and maintain continuity of operations.

Assessing the Recovery Aftermaths of Selected Disasters in the Gulf of Mexico

“…Recovering from the storm involved the manifestation of a new reality that defined existence as normal. Despite its best attempts to recover from the incident and to resume some normalcy among the lifestyles of its citizenry, Galveston was changed by the disaster and the pre-disaster normalcy would be replaced with a new post-disaster normalcy shaped by the recovery efforts [21,22]. This observation provides a timeless lesson regarding recovery -no guarantee exists that a locale shall completely recover and achieve its previous state of normalcy that existed before a calamity occurred.…”

“…Despite the best efforts to achieve normalcy after an incident occurs, not all scenarios generate a full recovery. For instance, the city of Galveston, Texas never regained its economic status as a Gulf Coast port after experiencing a hurricane in 1900 near the turn of the twentieth century [21,22]. Similarly, New Orleans did not fully reclaim its former glory following Hurricane Katrina [37].…”

“…Such notions may be considered from the perspective of the 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas. Following the hurricane, the recovery period necessitated changing the governmental structuring of Galveston to accommodate considerations and endeavors that were related to safeguarding the city against potential future disasters [21,22]. Recovering from the incident necessitated the erecting of bulwarks to guard against sea swells, and the raising of the city physically [21,22].…”

United States Federal Emergency Management Agency regional clustering by disaster exposure: a new paradigm for disaster response

“…While the United States (US) is well recognized for its bountiful resources and degree of economic and technological development, it has also experienced myriad catastrophes of breadth and scale. From historical disasters such as the 1900 Galveston hurricane (McElreath et al 2017 ), the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ( The Californian Earthquake of 1906 , 1909 ), and the great Mississippi flood of 1927 (Bhowmik and Demissie 1994 ), to modern events including the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado (Houston et al 2015 ), the 2017 Hurricane Maria that devastated Puerto Rico (Zorrilla 2017 ), and the 2018 California wildfires (Syphard and Keeley 2019 ), no region is exempt. All five of the main Köppen–Geiger classification climate types are found within the US (Peel et al 2007 ), with disasters ranging from earthquakes to forest fires experienced from coast to coast ( East vs West Coast Earthquakes , 2018 ; Bugaboo Fire Rages in Georgia and Florida , 2007 ).…”