The Wallis Landes building, 2411 Strand. The top two floors were blown off during the 1943 Hurricane. The first floor of the building is standing today. Photo courtesy of Ray Simpson.
The 1943 Storm
A great hurricane struck the Gulf Coast in 1943. Because of World War II and concerns about enemy U-Boats lurking in the Gulf, the storm was kept secret.
The mystery storm of 1943
The worst hurricane since 1915 caught Galveston County unaware and details about the destruction it caused were sealed for reasons of national security.
July 27, 2003 - By Ted Streuli
I have to go
to identify the dead
My father, Clyde A. Goings was chief inspector on the Corps of Engineers dredge boat Galveston. We were not aware the Galveston had sunk.
July 27, 2003 - By Iris Goings Snipes
I can never forget my grandfathers
faith
I cannot forget the Storm of 1943, because I was 13 years old and played my first mature role in the home.
July 27, 2003 - By Izola E.F. Collins
I promise not to stay next time
I was working for Pan American Refinery (Now BP) in 1943. I decided to stay in the plant to see what a hurricane was like.
July 27, 2003 - By Martin Albrecht
A woman being carried to her death
My Dad and I said goodbye to my mom on a sunny, hazy, cloudy day with no warning of what was to come.
July 27, 2003 - By Davene Schuler
'Buildings were collapsing
I had yet to experience the power of a hurricane. On July 27, the effects of the storm caught everyone by surprise.
July 27, 2003 - By Douglas R. Caldwell Sr.
Waded across a bridge, water was knee deep
I thought there might be an entry in my grandmothers diary she kept at her Camp Scrap Inn in Clear Lake Shores.
July 27, 2003 - By W. Crutchfield Williams II
We saw our small barn blow down
In July 1943, I was 6 years old, and what I can remember about the hurricane, known as the 43 storm, is very vivid.
July 27, 2003 - By Dorothy Evans Fuller
My husband
had to swim across the street
The electricity went out and the house did a little shaking, but the only thing destroyed was our backyard fence.
July 27, 2003 - By Emmy Lou Harris
My grandma wouldnt let her out of bed
My mother came home from the hospital the day before the hurricane. We kept moving her bed to keep her and the baby dry.
July 27, 2003 - By Dolores S. Moor
I had just given birth to twin boys
The house my daddy built rocked and rolled, and the bed I was in with my two sons creaked and shook.
July 27, 2003 - By Nevil Goodgame
As we were sitting and praying at my aunts
The water was beginning to rise since the seawall ended at 61st. We were all frightened and decided to drive to our aunts house.
July 27, 2003 - By Blanca Chapa Bell
The doctor ... did not expect him to live
Eddie Bradshaw was rushed to the hospital. This was during the 1943 storm and blackouts were ordered.
July 27, 2003 - By Velma Bradshow Leavell
'We didnt have much warning'
My mother had a dickens of a time keeping the car on the road. As I recall, there was not a lot of rain.
July 27, 2003 - By John O. Anderson Jr.
We were going to crawl out
My mother and I walked to the beach and angry waves were splashing up over the embankment and onto the street.
July 27, 2003 - By Lavelle Bedow Skufca
I was literally picked up and carried
It seems as though the storm was passing us by and I was sent out with telegrams for businesses in the downtown area.
July 27, 2003 - By Ethel A. Nevius
The road ... was underwater
Our electricity was off so my dad took us out in the car so that we could get a weather report.
July 27, 2003 - By Dee Salyer
We saw this soldier
battling the wind
We saw this soldier from Fort Crockett heading north on 49th Street. He had to get to his wife because she was alone.
July 27, 2003 - By Dorothy Snow Lucas
Men were hanging on to
the wings
A number of the larger planes were parked on the runway. Scores of men were hanging on to the leading edges of the wings.
July 27, 2003 - By Inez R. Lasell
The wind picked up two garages
My mother sent my sister and myself up to the attic to hold cardboard tables against the louvers that were covered with screening only.
July 27, 2003 - By Jane Keller Hime
We lost everything we owned that year
When the wind began to howl and our high raised home began to shake, we all sought shelter in a two story brick apartment house.
July 27, 2003 - By Lillie Balli Rios
During his patrol duties
he took pictures
It was interesting that all my life my family and I knew of the hurricane of 1943 but never knew it was a secret.
July 27, 2003 - By John Dupla
We suspected a hurricane
The weather grew progressively worse during the day, and when the roof blew off the brick garage next door we suspected a hurricane.
July 27, 2003 - By Bob Browning
Our African-American family felt unusual
Our African-American family felt quite unusual spending the night in the Buccaneer Hotel, a totally atypical occurrence at that time.
July 27, 2003 - By Annie Brown Chapman
They jumped into our porch
We had to finally abandon our house as the attic window had been left open and everything in the house was waterlogged.
July 27, 2003 - By Frances Homrighaus
Men were being washed up
My father had survived the 1900 Storm in a house nearby and was familiar with signs of approaching storms.
July 27, 2003 - By Andrew Johnson Jr.
The doctors stood in ankle deep water
I was born on July 27, 1943. The storm was raging and the lights went out so they moved my mother to John Sealy.
July 27, 2003 - By Carol Hasserd
The church was flattened
We were all kneeling and praying when someone noticed the roof was literally lifting up off the church.
July 27, 2003 - By Flora Mae Comeaux Cox
We just had to hold on to each other
The following buildings are gone: The Methodist church completely gone, the Baptist church off the blocks, Catholic churches gone.
July 27, 2003 - By Barbara Brister
The harbor was one huge mess
Galveston suffered heavy damage. During the storm, the water pressure had dropped to zero for a time and was possibly contaminated.
July 27, 2003 - By Fred E. Hempel
The main attraction
was the Coca-Cola sign
After awhile the winds calmed, the rain stopped and the sun came out. The eye was over Galveston.
July 27, 2003 - By Mary Elizabeth Felscher Fleming
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