User:12george1/Effects of the 1900 Galveston hurricane in inland North America

The effects of 1900 Galveston hurricane in inland North America, in September 1900, were unusually intense and included widespread damage across the Midwestern United States, Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Eastern Canada.

Midwest
After moving northward from Texas into Oklahoma, the storm produced winds of near 30 mph at Oklahoma City. Although extratropical, the system strengthened to tropical storm force while crossing the Midwestern United States. In Missouri, an 84 ft by 5-story brick wall under construction in St. Joseph fell over, killing a man and severely injuring another.

In Illinois, the city of Quincy was lashed by winds of nearly 40 mph for about 16 hours. Chimneys, trees, and signs were toppled, while a number of buildings were deroofed. Significant damage occurred to nearly every orchard in the area. A wind gust as high as 84 mph was observed in Chicago. Damage to roofs, trees, signs, and windows was in the thousands of dollars range. Several people were injured and two deaths occurred in the city, one from a live wire and the other was a drowning due to a capsized boat in Lake Michigan.

The storm produced rough seas in Lake Erie. Several maritime incidents occurred in the lake offshore Ohio. The John B. Lyon, a 255 ft steamer, capsized about 5 mi north of Conneaut. Fourteen out of sixteen crew members drowned. A survivor suggested that the ship being overloaded may have been a factor in its sinking. About 10 mi farther north, the schooner Dundee sank, causing at least one death. In another incident nearby, the steamer City of Erie, with about 300 passengers aboard, was hit by a tidal wave that swept over the bulwarks. The engine slowed and the steamers later reached safety in Canada with no loss of lives. In Toledo, strong winds disrupted telegraph services. Winds also blew water out of part of the Maumee River and Maumee Bay to such an extent that they were impassable by vessels due to low water levels. A number of vessels were buried in mud several feet deep, while about 20 others were beached.

New York
The rapidly moving storm was still exhibiting winds of 65 mph by the time it reached New York City on September 12, 1900. The New York Times reported that pedestrian-walking became difficult and that one death was attributed to the storm. A sign pole, snapped by wind, landed on a 23-year-old man, crushing his skull and killing him instantly, while two others were knocked unconscious. Awnings and signs on many buildings broke and the canvas roofing at the Fire Department headquarters was blown off.

Closer to the waterfront, along the Battery seawall, waves and tides were reported to be some of the highest in recent memory of the fishermen and sailors. Spray and debris were thrown over the wall, making working along the waterfront dangerous. Small craft in New York Harbor were thrown off course and tides and currents in the Hudson River made navigation difficult. In Brooklyn, The New York Times reported that trees were uprooted, signs and similar structures were blown down, and yachts were torn from moorings with some suffering severe damage. Because of the direction of the wind, Coney Island escaped the fury of the storm, though a bathing pavilion at Bath Beach suffered damage from wind and waves.

New England
In Connecticut, winds gusted up to about 40 mph. The apple crops, already endangered by drought conditions, suffered severe damage, with reportedly "hardly an apple left on a tree in the entire state". Prior to the storm, the apple crop was considered the largest in years. In the town of Orange, twelve large tents at a fair were ripped. At another fair in New Milford, fifteen tents collapsed, forcing closure of the fair. Along the coast, the storm produced abnormally high tides, with tides reaching their highest heights in six years at Westbrook. Water reached the bulkheads and remained there for several hours. In Rhode Island, the storm left damage in the vicinity of Providence. Telegraph and telephone services were interrupted, but not to such a large extent. Some small crafts in Narragansett Bay received damage, while apple orchards experienced slight losses.

Lightning produced by the storm ignited a number of brush fires in Massachusetts, particularly in the southeastern portions of the state, with winds spreading the flames. In Plymouth and other nearby towns, some residents evacuated from the fires by boat. Unconfirmed reports indicated that several homes in the Manomet section of the town burned down. Most cottages around the Big Long, Gallows, Halfway, and Little Long ponds were reduced to burning coals. In Everett, orchards in the Woodlawn section suffered complete losses of fruit. Two wooden frame building were demolished, while winds also toppled fences throughout the city. Winds damaged many telephone and electric wires in Cambridge. A lineman sent to fix the electrical wires nearly died when a pole snapped during a fierce wind gust. Orchards in the city suffered near complete loss and many shade trees were also damaged. At least a few chimneys toppled and several others were left leaning. A new bathhouse at Harvard University lost a portion of its tin roof and its copper cornices. At Cape Cod, a wind speed of 45 mph was observed at Highland Light in North Truro. Waves breached the sane dunes at multiple locations along the cape, with water sweeping across a county road at Beach Point in North Truro. A number of fishing boats sank and several fishhouses were inflicted severe damage.

Strong winds in Vermont generated rough seas in Lake Champlain. Early reports indicated that a schooner sunk near Adams Ferry with no survivors, but the vessel was later found safely anchored at Westport, New York. According to a man near the lake, all water from the New York portion of the lake was blown to the Vermont side, crashing ashore in waves as high as 15 to 20 ft. In the state capital of Montpelier, several large trees at the state house were uprooted. Within Montpelier and vicinity, farmers suffered some losses to apples and corn. Telephone and telegraph services were almost completely cut off. In Vergennes, a number of telephone wires snapped, while many apples, pears, and plums were blown off the trees. Additional damage to fruit and shade trees occurred in Middlebury and Winooski. The city of Burlington experienced its worst storm in many years. Winds downed all telephone and telegraph wires, whereas many trees had severe damage. Some homes were deroofed.

In New Hampshire, the storm left extensive in the city of Nashua. Winds tore roofs off a number of buildings, with several roofs landing on the streets or telephone wires. Chimneys in each section of the city collapsed; many people narrowly escaped injury or death. In Nashua and the nearby cities of Brookline and Hollis, thousands of dollars in losses occurred to apple crops, described as "practically ruined". The city of Manchester was affected by "one of the most furious windstorms which visited this city in years." Telephone and telegraph communications were nearly completely out for several hours, while windows shattered and trees snapped. Street railway traffic experienced delays.

Canada
From September 12–14, the extratropical remnants of the Galveston hurricane affected six Canadian provinces, resulting in severe damage and extensive loss of life. Peak winds reached 49–77 mph (79–124 km/h) in Toronto, breaking windows throughout the city. A fire broke out at a flour mill in Paris, Ontario, and the flames were fanned by the storm, resulting in $350,000 in damage to the mill and 50 other stores and offices. Total crop damage in Ontario alone amounted to $1 million (1900 USD). Impact to crops was particularly severe at St. Catharines, where many apple, peach, pear, and plum orchards were extensively damaged. At Lake Ontario, high winds wrecked havoc on vessels, beaching several boats, destroying a number of boats, and setting some others adrift. One person died in Niagara Falls when a man attempted to remove debris from a pump station, but he was swept away into the river instead.

Maximum rainfall in Canada reached 3.9 in (100 mm) in Percé, Quebec. In Nova Scotia, damage was reported in the Halifax area. A number of fences and trees fell over, while windows shattered and a house under construction collapsed. Two schooners were driven ashore at Sydney and a brigantine was also beached at Cape Breton Island. Another schooner, known as Greta, capsized offshore Cape Breton Island near Low Point, with the fate of the crew being unknown. The majority of loss of life occurred due to numerous shipwrecks off the coast of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. The overall death toll in Canada is estimated to be between 52 and 232, making this at least the eighth deadliest hurricane to affect Canada. The large discrepancy between the fatality figures is due to the fact that many people were reported missing in Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and later presumed to be dead.