Wednesday, October 19, 2005

1635 As we watch Wilma

One thing I noticed at the museum today when I read the explanation of the empty frame was that Hurricane Katrina was called "our nation's worst natural disaster." This is not true. Here's the information on the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 from the Sun Sentinel site:

"1900 -- More than 6,000 die after storm washes over Galveston
The nation's deadliest natural disaster, the storm struck with little warning late on Sept. 8. Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet inundated Galveston Island and portions of the nearby Texas coast. The tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths, with some estimates ranging as high as 12,000."

Just because it happens within your frame of memory, doesn't mean nothing worse ever happened.

2 comments:

Dancing Boys Mom said...

The sad thing is I don't think they are counting the cost of Katrina in lives lost. I believe they are speaking of dollar value.

Cathy said...

I think that the perception of Katrina being the worst natural disaster is skewed, though I don't want to in any way give the impression that those that have been affected by this disaster do not have a tremendous tragedy on their hands. I think the economic impact is worse, but in terms of lives, 6,000 is far greater. However, perhaps geographically its impact was worse, but not in terms of people. And, the media didn't have the access in the early 1900s as they do now..
Cathy