The Legacy Of Isaac Monroe Cline - 1252 Words

Isaac Monroe Cline was one of the era’s new scientists who believed he knew everything there was to be known about the motions of clouds and the behavior of storms. Isaac was the chief of the United States Weather Service bureau in Galveston at this time. The idea of a hurricane destroying the city of Galveston baffled him. As rain started to fall in the city with a higher intensity than normal, people were reassured by Isaac’s beliefs. He was completely wrong. Galveston which is located on Galveston Island is a twenty-nine mile strip of land estimated about two miles off the coast of Texas. With the miles of beaches and nice weather it was a popular resort and seemed to be headed in the direction to become the New York City of the Gulf Coast. It had also become a commercial port which was thriving. On September 8th, 1900 this changed. Many vacationers on this day did not pay attention to the warnings let out by the United States Weather Bureau to get to higher ground. Little did they know a category four hurricane was about to strike the city becoming the nation’s deadliest natural disaster still to this day. About six to eight thousand people lost their lives out of about thirty-six thousand total on the island. (about 20%) In comparison these deaths were greater than the combined of the Johnstown Flood and San Francisco Earthquake. Bussert 3 Galveston was only eight to nine feet above sea level and as the waters began rising nobody payed