Isaac's Storm: A Man, A Time, And The Deadliest Hurricane In History Quotes
"The world was before me and my enthusiasm was such that I thought I could do anything that it was possible for man to accomplish."
"The sea in retiring left heaps of sand and mud, which rendered all search for the property or bodies impossible."
"The storm was terrible, and on that night the ships were parted from me. Each one of them was reduced to an extremity expecting nothing save death."
"Meteorology has ever been an apple of contention, as if the violent commotions of the atmosphere induced a sympathetic effect on the minds of those who have attempted to study them."
"I was twenty-one years old, the world was before me and my enthusiasm was such that I thought I could do anything that it was possible for man to accomplish."
"The most beautiful island in the world has the appearance of a country laid waste by fire and sword, and appears to the imagination more dreadful than it is possible for me to find words to express."
"The storm was exhibited in the form of a great whirlwind."
"The air near the surface of the earth became superheated."
"The opinion held by some who are unacquainted with the actual conditions of things, that Galveston will at some time be seriously damaged by some such disturbance, is simply an absurd delusion."
"The landscape was amber, pierced by long black pickets of shadow."
"An ordinary man with patience and a knack for observation could change forever the way the world saw itself."
"The most beautiful vision in nature my eyes have ever beheld."
"A carpet of flowers such as words will not describe."
"I ran and jumped on top of the stage coach and scared the woman into hysterics."
"The water caught the carriage broadside and ripped it from the soil."
"The blame for this he laid entirely at the boots of Private Chase."
"The city's most disreputable block was Fat Alley."
"The pleasantest, healthiest, and most exciting kind of life an American could live."
"The shock of it on that August day in Texas was embedded in his brain."
"A seawall promised sure victory over Houston in the race to dominate the Gulf."
"The sky turned cloudless and blue, the prairie brown."
"The most feared of all meteorological phenomena."
"The city was too pretty, too progressive, too prosperous—entirely too hopeful—to be true."
"No one ever remembered a nice day. But no one ever forgot the feel of a paralyzed fish, the thud of walnut-sized hail against a horse's flank, or the way a superheated wind could turn your eyes to burlap."
"The sight of the red-and-black storm flag raised high over the Levy Building never failed to set Isaac's heart pounding."
"It looked as if the good ship could not stand such a thumping."
"It was feared she would strain her plates or break some bolts, if the vessel did not break in two."
"Things like this were not supposed to happen. Not anymore."
"For my own satisfaction, and at the request of friends, I constructed a chart, outlining roughly the origin, development and probable course of the cyclone."
"It's going to be the damnedest offspur you ever saw."
"The entire pavement of wooden blocks throughout the business section was afloat and up to the level of the raised sidewalks, bobbing up and down like a carpet of corks."
"The water was so high, we just sat in it, the horse was up to his neck in water."
"The hurricane which visited Galveston Island on Saturday, September 8, 1900, was no doubt one of the most important meteorological events in the world's history."
"Storm warnings were timely and received a wide distribution not only in Galveston but throughout the coast region."
"Regarding the warnings received at Galveston I desire to say that the hurricane warning never reached us."
"If I had taken the time on the morning of the 8th to ask for approval from the forecaster in Washington and waited for his reply the people could not have been warned of the disaster."
"I know that there have been many secret influences at work to embarrass the Weather Bureau."
"It is apparent to me and to every ranking officer ... in the West Indies that the people do not appreciate our service, that the only thing they want is to kick us and say good-bye."
"I regret that the restriction that heretofore has been placed on the transmission of private observations and forecasts over the Government lines has been removed."
"Without the reporting stations of the new service the Weather Bureau would have been unable to detect the inception of the Galveston hurricane when it was only a harmless storm."
"The only hope we have is that my daughter may have been picked up here and is not yet in a condition to tell."
"Every day the stench from rotting bodies got worse, I could barely keep from retching, it was so bad."
"Time lost can never be recovered, and this should be written in flaming letters everywhere."
"The dreams of young children are pure wish-fulfillments and are for that reason quite uninteresting compared with the dreams of adults."
"It is an unfortunate trait in the human character to assail or asperse others engaged in the performance of humanitarian acts."
"Even in death, she had traveled with us and near us through the storm."
"If I owned Texas and hell, I'd rent out Texas and live in hell."
"Who can attempt to describe the scene after the storm, when the sea had claimed its victims and the survivors surveyed the devastation?"
"At day-break, the city presented a scene of indescribable desolation, proof of the hurricane's merciless power."
"The practical inutility of life-saving stations along the coast has been demonstrated."
"Fearful hot with bodies decaying under the sun, the air was thick with the stench of death."
"Many people would not eat fish, shrimp, or crabs for several years."
"It is possible, but highly improbable, that the list of storm victims will aggregate 6000 souls."