A quick search revealed this CNN synopsis:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WEATHER/09/07/galveston.orphanage/index.html
“By nightfall, 150 mile an hour winds howled and the sisters took desperate measures.
“They had cut the clothesline down and each sister had about six or eight children tied to her side like mountain climbers. In this way, they had hoped to hold on to the children and lead them to safety,” she said.
Their efforts were to no avail. Eventually, the girls dormitory collapsed, dumping 93 children and 10 sisters into the raging waters. Only three boys, who clung to a tree, survived. When the bodies of the others were discovered, many were still tied together. “
There were only 14 people (per reports) in the chain, few of who were children, most of which were adults who were larger and stronger than their 1900 counterparts and therefore had a better chance of survival. Still risky, still an awful lot of ways it could have gone wrong... but I think one of the 1900 Storm demons just got exorcised.
How far did they have to walk?
I'm watching a FEMA search team in Galveston going door to door to every structure on Galveston Island. These teams are from Colorado and California and it's a night time operation. It's an amazing operation looking for the living or the dead. The assets with them is something else. Tomorrow they'll be other teams completing this search and rescue on Galveston Island. Then they'll be moving else where. This is such a huge area effective.