Uncommon US Flags #3: Storm Warning Flags
![](https://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/img/anymouse/2024/06/17/mhurr.gif)
![](https://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/img/anymouse/2024/06/17/storm.gif)
![](https://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/img/anymouse/2024/06/17/gale.gif)
Indianola, Texas after the Civil War became the principal port for the state, due to its location on Matagorda Bay. The town steadily grew as commerce, tourism, and agriculture expanded.
In 1875, a powerful Category 3 hurricane struck Indianola, killing more than 800 people across Texas, with more than 300 in Indianola alone. Nearly every building was destroyed.
Across the Caribbean Sea, ships and weather stations had warned residents of the approaching storm, resulting in few deaths on land.
In the United States, weather forecasting at the time was the province of the United States Signal Corps. Outrage across the nation due to the Signal Corps lack-of-warning over the storm caused the Corps to create the flags above. Since that storm, the appropriate flags are hoisted anywhere small craft advisories or gale, tropical storm, or hurricane warnings are issued.
As a postscript, residents wanted to rebuild further inland, but political considerations and trade caused the town to be rebuilt in the same location. Only eleven years later, the 1886 Indianola hurricane struck at the same place as a Category 4. The new hurricane warning system significantly reduced the death toll, though the town was completely destroyed. The town centre is now under Matagora Bay.
The storm also permanently changed the economy of the Texas coast. Shipping activity moved northward to Galveston and Houston. The 1900 Galveston Hurricane cemented Houston as the gateway to the world for Texas trade.