Hurricanes are known to be one of the most destructive natural forces on planet Earth. On September 8, 1900, a violent hurricane came out of the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the bustling island city of Galveston, Texas. This city and its unprepared citizens were battered by violent winds and enormous swells until they were completely destroyed at dawn the next morning. This carnage preserved this storm's place in American history and earned it the name the Great Storm of 1900. The Great Storm of 1900 was a massive hurricane that single-handedly changed the local economy of Galveston, the Texas economy and influenced current hurricane forecasting techniques. The storm of 1900 affected Galveston's local economy. Galveston Island is a 3-mile stretch of island on the Texas coast that relied heavily on its shallow harbor for shipping. Galveston shipped nearly 64 percent of all the cotton leaving the state of Texas before the hurricane that almost completely wiped that city off the map. “In 1900, more than 2 million bales of cotton were shipped from the port of Galveston” (Ramos). Once the hurricane passed, the city remained in ruins and was unable to function as a civic environment, much less a shipping port. The local economy was weak and all attention was focused on rebuilding this port city into a habitable place. The maritime situation of this shallow-water port never reached the potential it had before the great storm of 1900, largely because of its hurricane-prone location on the South Texas coast. Once the city of Galveston was rebuilt, the main focus of the local economy was to be a sought-after tourist location. Even today, thousands of people gather at this picturesque beach... middle of paper ... forecasting and tracking hurricanes around the world to prevent this type of devastation from happening again. With financial backing and strong will, this determined city was rebuilt after complete chaos and continues to thrive even after being nearly swept into the Gulf of Mexico by the fierce winds and enormous swells of the Great Storm of 1900. Works cited Abbe, Cleveland. “September 1900.” Monthly Meteorological Review XXVIII.9 (1900): 371-377. Web.May 16, 2010.Ramos, Mary. "After the Great Storm: Galveston's Response to the Hurricane of September 8, 1900." Texas State Historical Association: Texas Almanac. The Texas State Historical Association, SEPT 10, 2008. Web. May 16, 2010. Smith, Michael. "Rebuilding after the storm is considered 'Galveston's finest hour'." The Storm of 1900: Galveston Island, Texas. The Galveston County Daily News, September 9, 2009. Web, May 16 2010.