For centuries, great earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and blizzards have left cars on the land and challenged the fortitude of the American people. A few of these disasters have achieved legendary status, while others remain relatively unknown. One whose story is now being retold stands apart from the rest, for it claimed more lives than the Johnstown Flood, the Chicago Fire, the San Francisco Earthquake, and the Great Mississippi Flood combined. In one wretched night of wind and water in September 1900, Galveston, Texas, endured a great hurricane that is still regarded as the deadliest natural disaster ever known to strike American soil.