1928 Okeechobee hurricane
The Okeechobee Hurricane (or San Felipe Hurricane) was a deadly hurricane that struck Peurto Rico and southern Florida in September 1928.
Formation
The storm formed as a Cape Verde-type hurricane off the coast of Africa. It was first sighted in the tropics on 10 September.
Impact in the Caribbean
On 12 September the hurricane passed by Guadaloupe. After moving over the Virgin Islands it passed directly over Peurto Rico on 13 September. Here it killed more than 300 people and caused 50 million dollars (1928 dollars) in property damage; it is remembered as the San Felipe Hurricane. Next it passed over the Bahamas where it claimed another 18 lives. Some sources list the death toll throughout the Caribbean as 1575, but it is unclear where this number comes from.
Impact on Southern Florida
After leaving the Carribbean, the hurricane gained strength again as it moved toward Florida.
In the evening of 16 September the storm made landfall in southern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. The eye passed ashore in Palm Beach county. Damage along the coastline from the heavy winds and 10-foot storm surge was catastrophic; however the area was only sparsely inhabited at the time.
Inland, the hurricane wreaked much more widespread destruction along the more heavily populated coast of Lake Okeechobee. Residents had been warned to evacuate the low ground earlier in the day, but after the hurricane did not arrive on schedule many thought it had missed and returned to their homes. When the worst of the storm crossed the lake - with winds measured on the ground at around 140 mph and a pressure of 929 mb (but note all such measurements are suspect) - the low pressure and south-blowing wind caused a lake surge to overflow the small dike that had been built at the south end of the lake. The resulting flood covered an area of hundreds of square miles with water that in some places was over 20 feet deep. Houses were floated off of their foundations and dashed to pieces against any obstacle they encountered. Most survivors and bodies were washed out into the Everglades where many were never found. As the rear eyewall passed over the area the flood reversed itself, breaking the dikes along the northern coast of the lake and causing a similar but smaller flood.
Floodwaters persisted for several weeks, greatly impeding attempts to clean up the devestation. Burial services were quickly overwhelmed and many of the bodies were placed into mass graves. Around 75% of the fatalities were migrant farm workers, making identification of both dead and missing bodies very difficult. As a result of this the count of the dead is not very accurate. The Red Cross estimated the number of fatalities as 1,836, which was taken as the official count by the National Weather Service for many years. However in 2003 this was revised as "at least" 2500, making the Okeechobee hurricane the second-deadliest natural disaster in United States history.
Thousands of people were left homeless in Florida; property damage was estimated at 25 million dollars (1928 dollars). Adjusted for wealth, inflation, and population (in other words, taking into account the vast growth of southern Florida) to the year 2003 this would be 18.7 billion dollars. However it's important to note that a disaster of this kind is unlikely (but perhaps not impossible) to happen again because of the much larger dike that now contains the waters of Lake Okeechobee.
See Also
- List of notable tropical cyclones
- List of Atlantic hurricane seasons
- Great Miami Hurricane
- 1900 Galveston Hurricane