1900 Texas City tornado

The 1900 Texas City tornado was a large, high end, EF4 tornado with winds up to 265 mph that affected Texas City, Texas. It was responsible for causing $30 million in damage and 149 deaths, with 144 in Texas City, 3 in Galveston and 2 in Jamaica Beach.

TORNADO SUMMARY AND TRACK

At 2:30 PM CDT on September 8, 1900, a severe thunderstorm was located offshore of Galveston Island, and produced several waterspouts, one rated F1 that sank a marine. The thunderstorm came onshore, and at about 3:04 pm, a dark, black, funnel cloud touched down in Galveston Bay. The waterspout became a tornado as it made landfall in Texas City. It stripped trees at F2 intensity, one falling onto a horse-and-buggy. After that, the tornado traveled into Downtown Texas City, destroying houses, a farm, and a one-room schoolhouse. No fatalities were reported there. However as more homes were destroyed at high-end F3 to low-end F4, at that time 32 fatalities were reported. The F4 rating was spotted when a car was thrown towards a road and kept there about 2 miles south of Texas City at 4:14 pm. In 2015, a recent study showed a total of 144 deaths.

When it was officially named the “Great Cyclone of Texas”, after seeing the destruction in Texas City, the tornado crossed Galveston Bay and made a second landfall in Galveston at 4:17 pm. There, 1 fatality occurred at that time. Crops were destroyed, houses were leveled, and people’s property were scattered everywhere. Another fatality occurred when a tree fell down on a house, destroying it. A total of 3 died in Galveston.

After destroying Galveston, a final community was destroyed, Jamaica Beach. It was struck at 5:29 pm. 2 women were killed when a business collapsed. The tornado finally dissipated at 5:33 pm.

AFTERMATH

A total of 149 people were killed in the tornado. Of these, 141 were direct, and 8 were indirect, as well as 144 in Texas City, 3 in Galveston, and 2 in Jamaica Beach. 1,383 were also injured. It was one of the deadliest single tornadoes in Texas, and one of the deadliest on record.

Note: I know a lot, but little about the 1900s. So sorry if there are mistakes.