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'Buildings were collapsing’
By Douglas R. Caldwell Sr.
The Daily News
Published July 27, 2003
On July 24, 1943, I turned 18 years old. I worked as a clerk for the GCSF Railway in the Freight Accounting Department on the third floor of the Santa Fe Building.
I was new to Galveston having lived there only 14 months and was yet to experience the power of a hurricane.
On July 27, with very little warning, the effects of the storm caught everyone by surprise. When the high tide coming from the north started to flood the surrounding streets, management decided to send the workers in the building home.
I lived alone in a rented room on the West End. So I foolishly elected to ride out the storm on the third floor of the building.
There was a gentleman who had just arrived on a passenger train who decided to stay in the building until the storm blew over. What a blessing it was to have him with me in the long hours that ensued. He came to the third floor with me.
Soon torrents of water came pouring down the stairwells and resulted in several inches of water pooling on the third floor.
Across the street on The Strand, buildings were collapsing. Abandoned automobiles were being pushed by the wind and were floating as if they were boats.
I will never forget the long night this man and I experienced waiting for dawn to break.
I will never forget my introduction to the power of a hurricane. There have been other storms I have experienced, but the storm of 1943 is etched in my memory like none other.
Douglas R. Caldwell Sr. Texas City
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