1663: Fortifying for extreme weather

An estimated 6,000–12,000 people were killed. Afterward, in a feat of engineering and a spirit of defiance, the shoreline was elevated by 17 feet, the city was rebuilt, and a 10-mile seawall was erected to protect Galveston’s inhabitants and infrastructure against future storms. This brute-force approach to fortification was extreme yet largely effective. More recent storms — Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Maria — wrought similar devastation to coastal cities and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, hammering home the message that the storms are relentless and it’s up to humanity to prepare for them.

Read the full article in the latest issue of 1663 magazine.