113 years ago today, on September 8th 1900, a category four hurricane made landfall along the upper Texas coast. It achieved the title of the worst natural disaster in United States history, primarily due to the abnormally large death toll.
By the time the storm left what is now the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area, an estimated 8,000 people lost their lives; most of whom drowned on Galveston island when a estimated 15 to 20-foot storm surge overtook the island.
http://www.ksla.com/story/23372827/113th-anniversary-of-the-worst-hurricane-in-us-history