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On This Date: The Galveston Hurricane Of 1900, America's Deadliest

The benchmark U.S. killer hurricane happened 125 years ago. It not only wiped out thousands, but also changed history in southeast Texas.

By Jonathan Erdman • just now

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was by far America's deadliest, wiping out a booming city in southeast Texas.

On Sept. 8, 1900, 125 years ago tonight, a Category 4 hurricane roared into Galveston Island. A storm surge of up to 15 feet with battering waves swept over the barrier island that was less than 9 feet above sea level, accompanied the hurricane eyewall's intense winds.

Roughly 8,000 were killed, though some estimates were as high as 12,000 fatalities, more than double the death toll of any other U.S. hurricane before or s

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