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The Surprise Hurricane

Most people don't know that Houston has been hit by hurricanes before -- Rita (not quite), Alicia, etc. -- but probably never heard about one that was described as destructive to regional infrastructure (refineries) as the Galveston hurricane of 1900.

That's because it happened in 1943 at the height of WWII and had the Axis Powers found out how devastated the U.S. refining capacity was, it might have turned the war. From Wikipedia:

The storm struck the Bolivar Peninsula, crossed Galveston Bay, and made landfall a second time near the Houston Ship Channel. Because of the distraction of the war, and the lack of ship reports, warnings were few, and residents were caught off-guard.

By 27 July, the storm had weakened to tropical storm strength, and was northwest
of Houston.
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