Mighty Storm

Here is Tom Rush, singing "Wasn't That a Mighty Storm", something I remember seeing him sing in concert at Constitution Hall in college. It was a bit bizarre watching Ike hit Galveston and Houston this weekend after just reading Isaac's Storm. But as bad as Ike was, it seems like Galveston got off lighter than they did in 1900. Watching satellite images helps, and evacuation plans help, and modern building codes can't have hurt, along with the sea wall they built after 1900. Mostly, though, I guess it was the 15 foot storm surge as opposed to the estimated 22 feet they got in 1900. To show you how confident they were in the fact that hurricanes actually could not hit them back then, they built the city trolley line out over the gulf waters. When the surge came in, it pushed a wall of debris through the town that swept even the best-built houses away, in spite of them having been built well above ground. I guess we'll have a clearer picture of how things look this time around over the coming few days.