http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/12Tides.pdf
It has storm surge analysis of various hurricanes.
The 1900 Galveston Hurricane produced storm surge 6 to 10 miles inland. The hurricane produced storm surge as high as 20 feet in the present day Houston Ship Channel.
Keep in mind this occurred when there much less development back than. The 1900 Galveston Hurricane is likely a large hurricane.The 1915 Texas Hurricane was a large hurricane likely the size of Carla or Ike. The SLOSH model suggests that the hurricane produced 30 feet storm surge in Galveston Bay northwest of Galveston! This would be on par with Katrina.