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AN
IRONY OF HURRICANE IKE by
Bill Cherry | |
When
the hurricane of 1900
struck Galveston
it was almost to the day 108 years before Hurricane Ike came on September 11-12,
2008.
The part of the 1900
Storm story that is not often told is that Galveston
was in such financial straits prior to the 1900
Storm, that it was on the brink of bankruptcy.
It had no bond rating
because the city had allowed property owners to become and stay delinquent on
their property taxes. And it had been that way for years.
And it was
just as likely that the rich avoided theirs as it was that the poor didn't pay
because they couldn't.
The city government was impotent.
When
the 1900
Storm hit, Galveston
had to decide which fork in the road to take -- one to rebuild the city, the other
to abandon it entirely. If it was to rebuild, it would have to straighten out
its fiscal affairs. It would have to reorganize its government and it would have
to become fiscally responsible.
A banker and cotton broker, I.H. Kempner,
agreed to be the city's treasurer under a new form of city government, and he
immediately began collecting the back taxes. Within two years, the city's financial
position was acclaimed as strong by financial markets.
And it was that
new position that encouraged lenders to provide the money necessary to raise a
major portion of the island to above sea level, and to build the great 17 foot
seawall
on the island's south side. That the two projects were accomplished is just shy
of beyond belief.
Now
here's the paradox:
Last week, 108 years later, a storm with arguably the
same intensity struck Galveston.
None since the 1900
Storm had been that evil. The hurricane was named is Ike. Interestingly,
the granddaughter of I.H. Kempner is Galveston's
current mayor. Her name is Lyda Ann Kempner Quinn Thomas.
Mr. I.H. Kempner's
nickname was Ike.
Bill
Cherry's Galveston Memories
September 15, 2008 column
Copyright William S. Cherry
All rights reserved |
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Bill Cherry, a Dallas Realtor and free lance writer was a longtime
columnist for "The Galveston County Daily News." His book, Bill Cherry's Galveston
Memories, has sold thousands, and is still available at Barnes and Noble and
Amazon.com and other bookstores. |
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