Galveston Island and other low-lying coastal or barrier islands in the United States are frequently affected by hurricanes. Galveston, in particular, led to the largest natural disaster in United States history when it was struck by a hurricane in 1900. It is estimated that around 12,000 people lost their lives because there was no seawall in places and because sand barriers had been removed to even out the island.
What can be done to prevent these types of events? The Galveston hurricane provides the perfect example. Seawalls can be built, structures can be put on stilts. People can be given warning in advance of hurricanes that are approaching. Sufficient means of evacuation can be put into place. In the Hurricane of 1900, none of these existed or happened.
After that hurricane, though, and the tremendous amount of lives it cost, all of these actions listed above were actively put into place. The seawall and other new measures were tested in 1915, when a similar hurricane hit Galveston. They proved to be effective, and while some still died, the city remained largely unaffected. The measures proved their value.
While this example worked well for Galveston, the political feasibility of using this approach in every case is difficult to evaluate. Barrier islands off of North Carolina, for example, often have very small populations who choose to live their despite the risk. Building them all their own seawall would have a very high cost that benefits only a small number of people. Efforts, politically, to take these measures are usually only made in highly populated areas. It would be ideal if we could put up seawalls to protect the coastline of the entire country; unfortunately, currently, it’s only possible in the areas of the most population and economic importance.
References:
Larsson, Eric (2000). Issac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in
History. New York: Vintage Books.
Ramos, Mary. “Galveston’s Response to the Hurricane of 1900.” Texas Historical
Association Texas Almanac. Retrieved from
http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/history/galvestons-response-hurricane-1900 on 2/19/2013.
