The 11 Most Horrifying Disasters That Ever Happened In Texas
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Katie Lawrence
Author
While the benefits of living in Texas far outweigh the cons, we do suffer from natural disasters quite a bit – a consequence of being in a tropical climate AND right on the coast. I’d like to think that all the hurricanes and floods we’ve been through have only made us stronger, however. Each time we endure a storm, we become better equipped to handle them in the future. While the following catastrophes were tragic indeed, forgetting about them wouldn’t be doing proper justice to those who lived (and unfortunately died) through them. That being said, these disasters definitely tested the mighty force that is the Texas spirit – but not even Mother Nature is a match for us.
This is the deadliest natural disaster to date in U.S. history. As tragic as it was, killing 8,000-12,000 people, it might have happened for a reason. The storm inspired the city to build a seawall to shield it from future hurricanes, which may have saved countless lives over the years. This hurricane killed more people than have died in every American hurricane since then. The Category 4 storm had sustained winds of 145 MPH and costed $104 billion dollars in damage repairs.
Before the days of modern medicine, diseases like Yellow Fever quickly became widespread epidemics that killed thousands. The outbreak in the summer of 1867 is second only to the great 1900 hurricane in terms of casualties.
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The SS Grandcamp ship exploded on April 16, 1947 only for the SS High Flyer to follow suit the very next day. This twofold disaster killed almost 600 people and injured thousands, making it the second -worst non-disease catastrophe in Texas.
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En route to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Flight 191 crashed and killed 135 people aboard as well as the driver of a car on the highway. The crash is the 13th worst aviation disaster in the nation.
The Spanish Flu broke out all over the world, but it hit especially hard in Texas - more specifically, at Fort Bliss in El Paso. Over 600 soldiers perished from the disease.
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A natural gas leak in the basement of this Rusk Country school led to an explosion killing over 300 people, half of the school's population. It's the worst school disaster in the U.S. to date.
Another powerful storm made landfall in Galveston just 15 years after the first one. 275 people died and $56 million was spent in repairs. The death toll probably would've been much higher had the seawall not been built after the 1900 hurricane, so as sad as it sounds, it might've been a blessing in disguise.
Not even reaching hurricane status, Tropical Storm Allison managed to cause 55 deaths and over $10 billion in damage. It sat over Texas for what seemed like years, pouring over 35 inches of rain onto Houston - pictured above is the Southwest Freeway completely submerged. Allison is the deadliest tropical storm in U.S. history and the only one to have its name retired.
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In September of 1921, a tropical system moved into Texas from Mexico and unleashed over 38 inches of rain on Williamson County in less than a day. There were 225 recorded deaths and costed $19 million in repairs. It's the worst flood in Texas history and broke records for the amount of rainfall in a day.
Hurricane Rita made landfall as a Category 5 storm in late September of 2005. The death toll was 120 and damage cost is estimated at around $8 billion. I still remember the first night like it was yesterday: huddled up in my nana's house watching the massive storm on the radar and thinking it looked like something out of "The Day After Tomorrow." Rita was a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure.
Extremely destructive tornadoes are a rarity here in Texas, so this one really took Waco by surprise. It was the deadliest tornado in Texas history, killing over 100 people and injuring nearly 600. It was 1/3 mile wide and was classified as an F5 tornado. 1600 homes were either damaged or destroyed, and people had to wait hours to be rescued. Tornadoes are definitely the scariest natural disaster because they arrive with almost no warning and leave people scrambling for shelter.
Were you alive for any of these disasters? If not, have you heard stories from your parents and grandparents about them? What’s the worst storm you’ve ever weathered in Texas?
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