WEATHER BUEEAU. 167 



of Jamaica on the 15th and IGth. The center of the disturbance 

 moved northward over the Yucatan Channel into the Gulf of ^lexico 

 from the ITth to 19th, thence northwestward with increasing energy 

 during the 20th, reaching the Texas coast just south of Galveston on 

 the 21st. Beginning on the 17th, advices regarding the storm were 

 telegraphed to Havana and southern Florida ports, and from the 

 18th to 21st Atlantic and Gulf shipping interests were informed daily- 

 regarding its probable position and course. 



The following is from the report of the official in charge of the 

 Weather Bureau office at Galveston : 



The first announcement of the storm's approach was received at this office on 

 the ISth. Advisory messages followed on the 19th and 20th. that of the 20th being 

 to the effect that the disturbance was over the central Gulf, moving northward. 

 Shipping interests and the public were kept thoroughly informed by telephone, 

 bulletins, and the press, and I believe that on July 20 there was not a single 

 news-reading person in the city who was not aware of the storm. It is estimated 

 that the Gulf rose 10 feet above the normal. Volumes of water dashed over the 

 sea wall and flooded the lower portions of the city. 



Extract from the Post, Washington, D. C. : 



The citizens of Galveston and the residents of the Texas coastal plain owe a 

 debt of gratitude to the United States Weather Bureau for the timely warnings 

 of the tropical storm that recently swept in from the Gulf of ^lexico. While 

 the loss was not large from the ravages of the hurricane, yet it probably would 

 have reached an appalling total in death and damage to property had not the 

 storm's destructive path been foreseen by the Bureau many hours before it 

 struck the coast. 



Extract from an Associated Press report from Houston, Tex. : 



Advices show that damage was done throughout a section of Texas extending 

 OB an average 100 miles into the interior. In some counties reports indicate 

 that very few home owners escaped losses of at least a minor sort. While the 

 property destruction has been great, the life loss and serious injury is inex- 

 plicably small. This is attributed largely to the fact that storm warnings gave 

 the inhabitants an opportunity to prepare for the expected blow. 



Hurricane of August 27^ 1909. — This storm, which caused great 

 loss of property at Mole St. Nicholas, was first observed south of 

 Haiti on the 23d. Advices issued on that date stated that the dis- 

 turbance would move west-northwestward in the region of the Ba- 

 hamas, and that rough weather would be experienced in Cuban 

 waters, and probably as far south as Jamaica. On the 24th the south- 

 ern provinces of Cuba were visited by hea\'y winds and rains that 

 caused considerable damage to property, and in the afternoon a wind 

 velocity of 60 miles an hour from the northeast was reported from 

 Havana. On that date advices were issued that the storm would 

 move west-northwest toward the southeastern portion of the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and vessels were cautioned to avoid those waters. On the 

 26th the steamer Cartago reported the storm by wireless to New 

 Orleans, via Burwood, La., the distance from the ship to the receiving 

 station being about 500 miles. This is the first instance in which a 

 report of an encounter Avitli a storm at sea was transmitted in time to 

 be utilized in current forecast work. The storm struck the coast near 

 the mouth of the Rio Grande on the 27th. Although it was severe, no 

 lives were lost during its passage, due to the fact that the Weather 

 Bureau warnings wore timely and enabled the people living on the 

 low islands along the Gulf to reach places of safety. 



