September 4, 2000

Isaac Cline was a Baptist
___GALVESTON--One of the most notable characters of the Galveston storm of 1900 was a Baptist layman.
___Isaac Cline, head of the newly formed U.S. Weather Bureau in Galveston, had argued against the need for a seawall on Galveston Island, claiming it a needless and wasteful

ISAAC CLINE

expense. The threat of a severe hurricane--what meteorologists today call an X-storm--hitting Galveston was "an absurd delusion," Cline had argued.
___But on the night of Saturday, Sept. 8, 1900, Cline was deeply troubled by the falling barometric pressure. By 8:10 p.m. that night, water had flooded his own home and stood within a few inches reaching the second floor.
___Waves, wind and debris battered the house as he and his family and others seeking refuge--a total of 50 people in all--stood helplessly by. Then the house began to break up.
___"When the house finally collapsed, the Clines went down with it," wrote First Baptist Church of Galveston member Diane Zimmerman in a recent historical sketch. "Dr. Cline almost drowned but succeeded in holding on to his smallest daughter.
___"Of the 50 people who had taken refuge in his house, only 18 were saved. The next day, Dr. Cline found his wife's body caught under the wall of the house.
___"In spite of this, Dr. Cline continued to teach the young men's Bible class at the church."
___Cline's story is told in the book "Isaac's Storm."

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