In the last iteration of Hurricane History, we went over the history behind the devastating 1900 Galveston Hurricane in Texas that led to Houston becoming a major city. Well, before then there was another hurricane that shifted the path of Texas history. In this iteration of Hurricane History, we will go over the 1886 Indianola Hurricane.
The storm began forming on August 12th, 1886 and hit Cuba as a category 2 hurricane on August 16th. In the following days it became weaker and weaker, until intensifying all of a sudden into a category 4 hurricane as it made landfall in Texas on August 20th. This hurricane was the strongest hurricane ever recorded at the time, with wind speeds hitting 150 mph. The port city of Indianola was still recovering from a category 3 hurricane only a few years ago in 1875, and so the Indianola Hurricane completely obliterated the city, destroying almost all the buildings and sinking their post office.
At this time, Indianola was competing with Galveston as the chief port of Texas, but this rivalry was concluded by the 1886 hurricane with many flocking to Galveston after. Galveston’s glory would not last very long though as they suffered an even more devastating hurricane just a few years later in 1900 which we covered in the previous iteration of Hurricane History.
We hope you found this information informative and interesting during this hurricane season. At AJS, we understand that things can get difficult around this time of year, and we are committed to helping you and your properties. For any lifting, reconstruction, or building, give us a call today for a free consultation!