Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1897-12-10
MEXICO GULF STORMS.
HURRICANES THAT LEAVE DEATH AND
DESTRUCTION IN THEIR TRACK.

! Born IN the SnrugoAsa sea, tncN sweep
with Re.istiess Fury over the waters of
the Great Gulf storms That EavnEcd the
southern Coast Gaivcston's Danger.
The Gulf of Mexico is water of
storms, not frequent, but fren1iedly
violent. IL is, in effect, an immense
scallop cut from the land, and hurri.
canes seem to grayiiate to itnaturally.
They are born in the neighborhood of
the SaragOssa sea, strike the West In
dies and not infreluently leave those
islands Mt q tangent, just as a ball
thrown ut an obtuse angle against a
wall slides along il for little space
and again seeks vacancy. These errat-
ic forces of the air strike the coast of
Mexico, or the coast of Texas, accord
ing to their angle, and dea h is in
their track. The things called "tidal
waves in that section are not really
tidal waves. They are not caused by
an upheaval. They are merely local
III effect. They are not vast walls of
water moving with resistless speed
and weight over the face of the ocean.
They are waters banked up against
low coast by wind pressure until they
overflow. In many instances the sub
mergence is gradual, and ample oppor-
tunity for escape is given. Other
times the violence of the air makes
them sudden and people are drowned.
Probably the most severe storm,
with its resultant tidal wave" in the
history of the gulf, occurred on the
10th of August, 1856, striking the
coast line farther east, at the mouth
OF the Mississippi. This storm lasted
three days. Such was the weight of
the wind that the Mississippi rose
twenty feet at Donaldsonville, which
is more than q hundred miles from the
rivers mouth. Six hundred people
were drowned on Lille Dernere, or
Last island, a New Orleans summer
resort. Many hurricanes have oc.
Cured since then, but folks in Louisi-
ana still speak of that one as 'the
great Storm" The stroller in the
graveyard Of the Crescent City fire.
quently finds messy stone recording
the name of some victim of the disas-
ter. No bones are underneath. The
body was taken far to sea by the
mighty refux and became food for
fishes. The stone was erected merely
in memory. A river man once de-
scribed to me the Lille Derniere
storm as "a wind that you could lean
your back against. For three days it
was as steady rs a wall.
In 1876 the witch call of the West
Indian air demon sounded along the
Texan coast. From Brownsville to
Sabine pass the diapason Numbered
and the lashed waters ate up the land
In Matagorda bay, in Kokono bay, in
Lsvsca bay no ship might ride. Look
ing southwark man saw only sworld
of mountains in upheaval. The sky
was gray, but no clouds were visible.
All were blown into the same dull
smear. Fifteen miles inland the
limbs OF such trees as wore through
the fight dripped salt Dead wild
fowl strewed all the prairies. Corpses
were found on the beaches in dozens.
Sometimes only the tip Of leg or an
arm projected from the sand. Fishes
gasped out their lives where happy
homes had stood. All of that smiling
and prosperous country was ruin.
OF the thriving little town Of Indian
ola some three or four houses were
left, but no one lives in them to this
day. 1t is deserted village. More
than half of its people were drowned.
Others escaped in ways grotesquely
strange. One woman rode out the
night, with her baby claspsd in her
arms, in the top of tree that had
shaded her porch. When daylight
broke she was ten miles inland. The
father was never seen again. Dozens
OF small towns were partly destroyed.
The death lists are still incomplete.
Galveston was far to the eastward,
yet it suffered loss Of life and proper
ty. Waves washed through the prin-
cipal streets. Goods in cellars were
ruined. Houses on its famous beach
put out to sea. Little children we're
drowned in front yards. Shipping
was ground to pieces against the
wharves. New bars were formed and
new channels dug. 1t was Q time OF
terror Of which the Galvestonian still
speaks with bated breath. Indeed, it
may be said that the people of that
prosperous city Of 80, 600 souls live in
expectation of o similar disaster. They
are used to il and 60 about their avo-
cations in light-hearted way, but the
dread is there. Galveston 10 built
upon long, sandy island some six
miles from the mainland. Upon its
gulf side it is exposed to the full fury
Of the elements. There is nothing to
speak of between it and Europe. It's