Pictured above is the Point Bolivar Lighthouse, built in 1852 of iron. Back in 1900 came the worst natural disaster to ever befall the US: the nameless hurricane that hit Galveston. Over 8000 people lost their lives in that hurricane. At Point Bolivar, frightened residents of the Port Bolivar area took refuge in the lighthouse with the keeper, over 150 of them, terrified, huddled together in the raging darkness as the storm surge began flooding the lower steps of the tower. They climbed higher until the water stopped rising, and stayed there until it receded. When it did, they were horrified to find the bodies of those who weren't able to get inside the tower before the surge came.
The Point Bolivar Lighthouse again provided a refuge from a smaller hurricane in 1915.
The lighthouse was closed in 1933, its lamp extinguished.
108 years later and Hurricane Ike is here, ravaging the Bolivar peninsula even as the 1900 hurricane did, destroying all in its path. The Point Bolivar Lighthouse, empty, stood strong and steady once again as outside people huddled in fear and died, denied the shelter the lighthouse once provided, since it was private property, locked against trespassers.
Which is just another tragedy in this whole sad situation.
Personal: I lived in Galveston briefly in the late 1980's, and often visited Port Bolivar to sit on the beach, look at the old coast artillery batteries, and view the lighthouse. My heart goes out to all the residents of Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula.
No comments:
Post a Comment