Lindsey Graham

Well, that's understandable, but Houston doesn't have a deepwater harbor.

Here, the Gulf is on our doorstep.

Houston's a full 50 miles from the shipping channels.

Its sole connection to the sea is a narrow, muddy bayou.

Shipping your goods there will add extra cost to your business.

Yes, that may be true now, but there's talk in Houston of dredging the bayou.

They're planning to carve out their own deepwater channel.

Oh, that's a fantasy and an expensive one at that.

I assure you, nothing is going to change the fact that Galveston is home to the premier deepwater port in Texas.

Yes, but your coastal setting is still precarious, isn't it?

Even if you manage to rebuild the city and recover your population, the ground we stand on is still barely above water.

What happens if, God forbid, another hurricane comes and wipes out Galveston for good?

How are you going to convince me to stomach that risk?

You open your mouth to reassure him, but realize you don't have a good answer.

You're hit with the difficult truth that if Galveston is truly going to endure for the long term, it's going to require drastic actions.

In the aftermath of the Galveston hurricane, newspaper editors across the country questioned whether the devastated city would ever recover its status as an economic powerhouse, and Houston leaders cautioned investors to stay away from their longtime rival.

But the local business community refused to let the hurricane threaten the city's future.

The editors of the Galveston Daily News declared, Galveston does not intend to succumb to her crushing misfortune, but will again resume her place as the Great Port of the Gulf.

So once the city's most immediate needs had been taken care of, local leaders turned to long-term planning to restore Galveston to its former glory.

And in the months after the storm, an influential group of businessmen known as the Deep Water Committee seized the opportunity to overhaul the local government.