The Galveston Flood (1900)

"Death come howlin' on the ocean,
Death called, 'You got to go.' "

Say a prayer for those being targeted tonight by Hurricane Ike. Many people along the Texas shoreline have apparently refused to evacuate.

I remember the folk song "Galveston Flood" recorded by Tom Rush for his 1966 album, "Take a Little Walk with Me"* which told the story of the September 8, 1900, hurricane that topped the seawall at Galveston and killed more than 6,000 people; perhaps as many as 12,000.



As Rush sang in the chorus, "Wasn't that a mighty storm?"












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*Yes, I had the album. At 13, I was... let us say, precocious.