![]() ![]() But the bodies, fixed with weights and dropped at sea, swept back ashore, so vast funeral pyres were built on shore instead. Coerced at gunpoint, 50 men filled barges with corpses after each load, the workers were given dippers of whiskey. Under martial law, all able-bodied men were forced to work. “The bodies of human beings, infants, aged and carcasses of animals are strewn on every hand-The bay is alive with them.”īut if the storm was otherworldly in its horror, the aftermath was epic in another way. ![]() “Dead, dead, dead, dead everywhere,” the Daily Times Herald of Dallas wrote Sept. When the storm finally calmed at midnight, the island was afloat with corpses, moaning victims and shattered buildings. The dog sniffed each person, seemed to realize that Cline’s wife was gone, and plunged back in the water, apparently to find her. Hours later, according to Larson, the surviving relatives were floating on an unhinged door, when the family retriever saw them and swam aboard. But his pregnant wife was pulled under and drowned. Before it toppled, his two oldest girls leaped out with an uncle, and Cline and his youngest daughter followed shortly after. The rest were swept to shore and buried under tons of ocean-swept sand.Ĭonvinced the storm would ebb, Cline stayed with his family in their two-story house. Finally it swallowed them, drowning all except three boys who scrambled free and swam away. Mary’s Orphans Asylum, 10 nuns lashed themselves to 93 small children as the water seeped up to their second-story refuge. Residents hacked holes into their floors, hoping to stabilize their piered houses, but thousands of buildings filled slowly with seawater, then collapsed.Īt St. The monstrous waves drove houses near the water inland, smashing down the structures in their path. A tidal surge as high as 15.7 feet engulfed the city. But then a Florida storm defied Cline’s predictions, turning toward Galveston, and the wafer-flat city was swamped beneath the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.īy 7:30 p.m., winds topped 120 miles an hour. "I live with a bunch of petri dishes, so get out of here, wash your hands, and don’t touch any food while you’re at the beach.At the cusp of a new century, the opinions of the dandyish, mustachioed young Cline held the weight of solid fact, writes author Eric Larson in his 1999 bestseller, “Isaac’s Storm.” Although without modern tools such as radar, Cline was a distinguished meteorologist, embodying the era’s belief that science could master the elements. "There’s a lot of health concerns that come with it," said Yockey. But generally, it’s safe most of the time."Įxperts recommend checking the fecal bacteria levels before going to the beach. "If you have an open cut, make sure to clean it," said Zarnstorff. "You might have a risk of an upset stomach. beaches in 2022 had at least one day of testing high for potentially unsafe fecal contamination levels.ĭOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP BY CLICKING HERE According to the new study, roughly half of U.S. "We monitor it because it’s a human health risk," said Natasha Zarnstorff from the Galveston Bay Foundation. "We want to know what the current levels are at so we can better identify places that are safe to swim or not."įecal bacteria are relatively common at beaches worldwide. "I can’t go in there and not think I’m swimming in peoples’ waste," said one beachgoer.Įxperts say fecal contamination from sources such as urban runoff, sewage overflows, and factory farms can contain pathogens that threaten the health of swimmers, or force beaches to close to protect public health. Top 5 Texas beaches for high levels of fecal bacteria: ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |