1932 — Aug 13-14, Hurricane, Brazoria County (>41) and Galveston County (5), TX –46-47

–46-47 Blanchard estimated death toll: While we note 46 specific deaths from newspaper reports
below, a number of papers put the ultimate death toll at 47 (two of which we cite below).

–47 AP, Houston. “Child’s Death Puts Storm Toll at 47.” Victoria Daily Advocate, 8-30-1932, 2.
–47 AP. “Gulf Storm Death Toll Mounts to 47.” San Antonio Light, TX. 8-29-1932, p. 5.
–46 Blanchard tally
–41 Brazoria County
— 5 Galveston County
–42 Associated Press. “Death Toll 42 in South Texas. Port Arthur News, TX. 8-21-1932, p. 5.
–42 AP. “Hurricane Death List Stood at 42 Week After it Hit.” Corsicana Daily Sun, 8-20-1932, 1.
–42 United Press. “Relief Rushed to Storm Zone.” Port Arthur News, TX. 8-19-1932, p. 7.
–40 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database.
–40 Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes. 1964, p. 323.
–40 Hebert/Jarrell/Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… Feb 1993, p. 80.
–40 NOAA, NWS and AOML. “The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense U.S. Hurricanes.”
–40 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995.
–40 Roth, David (NWS). Texas Hurricane History. Jan 17, 2010 update, p. 9.
–40 Weather Bureau. “Severe Local Storms, August, 1932.” Monthly Weather Review, Aug 1932, p176.
–39 Galveston Daily News. “Relief Hastened as Storm Deaths Now Stand at 39.” 8-17-1932, 1.

Breakout of fatalities by locality, where noted:
Brazoria County (41)
–6 Angleton.
–1 John Baggett, 24, farmer; killed by flying debris.
–1 Mrs. William Dickson.
–1 Mrs. J. L. Fauche [also reported as Jarish ], 35.
–1 Victor Monsevacz, 32, Aug 28 in Houston hospital from hurricane injuries.
–1 Ruby Seay. Died in Houston hospital from injuries received during storm.
–1 Graceana Siligora, 13. Died Aug 29 as St. Joseph’s infirmary.
–2 Brazoria. Martha Morris, and an unidentified Black woman.
–1 Chenango. A. N. Carr, 22, in Houston hospital Aug 28, from storm injuries.
–1 Clute. Black man known as Happy Jack.
–2 Damon Mound. Mrs. G. B. Eversole and her mother, Mrs. G. B. Eversole.
–7 Freeport area.
–1 M. F. Briscoe, 25, father of 6-year-old son who died when school collapsed.
–1 Briscoe boy, 6, killed when school collapsed.
–1 Edward “Lon” Hudgins, 6, crushed by flying timbers.
–1 Mrs. Theresa Viola McArthur; died evening of Aug 19 from injuries.
–1 Unidentified Mexican baby.
–2 Unidentified Mexican children.
–3 Hoskins Mound.
–1 L.L. Reese, Sr., carpenter.
–1 R. Lewis Rossignol, about 50.
–1 Unidentified man.
–1 Oyster Creek. Edward Hudgins, 6. [Listed above under Freeport area.]
–2 Sweeny. Henrietta Jones, 12 , and Geraldine Jones, 4.
–5 Velasco.
–1 Mrs. E. P. Sennett, 52
–1 S. L. Warnecke.
–1 An unidentified Mexican woman.
–2 Unidentified Mexican children.
–9 West Columbia
–1 S. E. Gieseke. Died in a Houston hospital from injuries received in the storm. –1 Mary Mack.
–1 Mrs. O. V. Read, mother of Mrs. Rosie Suggs
–3 Henry Suggs, wife Rosie Suggs, and Beulah Suggs, daughter, 8-years-old.
–2 Unidentified black men.
–1 Unidentified black woman.
–2 Unidentified Mexican children whose bodies were found in the Brazos River.
–1 Locale not noted. M. F. Briscoe, 6.

Galveston County ( 5)
–1 Galveston Bay, shore west. Unidentified woman.
–2 South Deer Island, West Bay. Mrs. Juan Morales and son, Pedro, 10, living on a houseboat.
–1 West Beach, Galveston. A. W. Depenbrock, 46.

Narrative Information

Roth: “August 13-14th, 1932: A disturbed area of weather was noted near Belize and Honduras on the 10th. The system moved northwestward across the Gulf before intensifying rapidly about a day prior to landfall. A ship 200 miles southeast of Galveston radioed in a pressure of 28.88″ on the morning of the 13th. The center passed slightly east of Freeport and directly over East Columbia where winds were estimated at 100 mph with a lowest pressure of 27.83″. In Galveston, telephone and electrical service were out for several days. Heavy rains fell near the coast… The storm was also very compact. Eight hundred birds in Wharton perished in the heavy rain. As the system moved northward into Oklahoma, twelve inches of rain fell. Forty died in Brazoria County and total damage was near 7½ million dollars.” (Roth, David, NWS. Texas Hurricane History. Jan 17, 2010 update, 41.)

Weather Bureau. “Severe Local Storms, August, 1932. Monthly Weather Review, p. 176:
“Brazoria, Fort Bend, Wharton, and Matagorda Counties, Tex. …12-14 [Aug]…40 [loss of life]…7,500,000 [value of property destroyed]…Hurricane [character of storm]…Probably 200 persons injured; cotton and rice crops suffered most in rural districts; hangar and planes destroyed at Houston.”
Sources

Associated Press, Houston. “Child’s Death Puts Storm Toll at 47.” Victoria Daily Advocate, TX, 8-30-1932, p2. Accessed 9-21-2022: https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-advocate-aug-30-1932-p-2/

Associated Press. “Death Toll 42 in South Texas. Port Arthur News, TX. 8-21-1932, p. 5. Accessed 9-21-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-aug-21-1932-p-5/

Associated Press. “Gulf Storm Death List 17 in 5 Towns, 50 Hurt, Gale Subsides Inland.” San Antonio Express. 8-15-1932, p. 1. Accessed 9-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-express-aug-15-1932-p-1/

Associated Press. “Gulf Storm Death Toll Mounts to 47.” San Antonio Light, TX. 8-29-1932, p. 5. Accessed 9-21-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-light-aug-29-1932-p-5/

Associated Press. “Hurricane Death List Stood at 42 Week After it Hit.” Corsicana Daily Sun, 8-20-1932, 1. Accessed 9-21-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/corsicana-daily-sun-aug-20-1932-p-1/

Associated Press. “Toll of Dead in Hurricane is Now Placed at 36.” Bryan Daily Eagle. 8-16-1932, p. 1. Accessed 9-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bryan-daily-eagle-aug-16-1932-p-1/

Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database. Louvain, Belgium: Universite Catholique do Louvain. Accessed at: http://www.emdat.be/

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Galveston Daily News. “Relief Hastened as Storm Deaths Now Stand at 39.” 8-17-1932, 1. Accessed 9-20-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-aug-17-1932-p-1/

Hebert, Paul J., J.D. Jarrell, Max Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Feb 1993, 41 pages. Accessed 9-20-2022 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/noaa_6344_DS1.pdf

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dept. of Commerce (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas). Miami, National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, Jan 1995. At: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS. 1-17-2010 update. Accessed 11-22-2017 at: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/txhur.pdf
Also 9-20-2022 at: https://www.weather.gov/media/lch/events/txhurricanehistory.pdf

United Press. “Relief Rushed to Storm Zone.” Port Arthur News, TX. 8-19-1932, p. 7. Accessed 9-21-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-aug-19-1932-p-7/

Weather Bureau. “Severe Local Storms, August, 1932.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 60, Issue 8, August 1932, pp. 175-176. Accessed 9-20-2022 at: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/60/8/1520-0493_1932_60_175_slsa_2_0_co_2.xml