Lindsey Graham

But for those who remained, security soon became a major concern, too, as reports of looting emerged.

When the chief of police insisted that he needed more manpower than his 70 officers, Mayor Jones deputized white union workers, and on September 13th, the mayor called in the Texas militia, led by Brigadier General Thomas Scurry, who declared martial law.

Troops guarded warehouses and commissaries and set up tents for homeless women and children.

But despite the presence of this militia, sensationalist stories of looting continued to spread, with racist newspaper accounts adding fuel to the fire.

Several reports accused black men of mutilating corpses to steal jewelry.

On September 13th, an Alabama newspaper alleged that 50 black looters had been shot to death in Galveston, declaring the ghouls were holding an orgy over the dead, though there was no evidence that these incidents occurred.

But even as officials worked to improve sanitation and security on the island, food shortages emerged as the most pressing challenge.

And beyond rations, survivors also desperately needed clothing, bedding, furniture, and stoves.

Because although the weather was still warm, soon cooler temperatures would arrive, making the housing shortage even more urgent.

Galveston's needs were far beyond what the disaster-stricken city could handle, and supplies were fast running out.

On Monday, September 10th, 1900, news of the hurricane in Galveston had reached Clara Barton, the 78-year-old founder and president of the American Red Cross, who was known as the angel of the battlefield for her efforts tending the wounded during the Civil War.

The Red Cross had led relief operations in the wake of other major natural disasters, including the 1889 flood that killed more than 2,000 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

And despite suffering from a lingering illness, Barton was determined to lend her expertise to Galveston, too.

So on September 13th, she set out from Washington, D.C.

with a team of Red Cross workers.

Four days later, they reached Galveston by boat.

Upon arrival, Mayor Walter Jones welcomed them and set them up at the Tremont Hotel.

And although Barton was used to scenes of death and destruction, the scale of devastation in Galveston shocked even her.

She wrote, It was one of those monstrosities of nature which defied exaggeration.

She was especially struck by the way the survivors moved around in a daze, writing, There was an unnatural calmness that would astonish those who do not understand it.