galveston. it is still to this day the deadliest natural disaster in u.s. history.ig a horrible event commemorated by this poignant statue on the galveston seawall. when the storm passed, dazed survivors emerged to a galveston they could not recognize. city streets filled with mounds of rubble. the debris from the houses and property and animals accumulated during the course of the storm became a wall ofer debris that protected the northern part of the island from the rest of the storm and water. we know that that debris line extended for maybe 2 miles and at some places was much as two stories in height. jon: galvestonians dug through the rubble desperately searching for survivors, but they found only bodies. among them ten catholic nuns and 90 orphans still tied together, only three of the st. mary s orphans survived the storm. i often think about what they would have experienced walking