March 19, 2000

Worst Florida Hurricane Drowned Thousands of People

The deadliest hurricane to strike Florida occurred in September 1928 - washing away the Lake Okeechobee dike and drowning 1,836 men, women and children by actual count.

Hundreds more could not be accounted for or were killed at Palm Beach and other towns along its track. Property damage could not be estimated because it was so widespread. Ten thousand people were homeless.

Charlotte County, damaged by a less severe hurricane two years earlier, escaped the worst of the 1928 storm. Citizens here - lead by the American Legion, Kiwanis and Rotary -- joined a massive effort to rescue survivors, bury the dead and repair damage.

As the hurricane moved over Puerto Rico, it took the lives of more than 300 people and left 200,000 homeless.

The category 4 storm, close to a monster 5, hit Palm Beach on the night of Sept. 16. Winds were estimated to be 150 miles per hour. The barometer reading of 27.43 was a fraction short of the 27.37 record U.S. reading of 1919.

As the storm approached Florida, several men of South Bay drove around Lake Okeechobee to warn people of the danger. However, the sun was shining so most went about their usual work in the sugar cane fields and farms.

A dike of lake-bottom mud had been pulled up by dragline to hold water three feet above the level of surrounding terrain to feed irrigation canals. Seasonal rains brought the level up to four feet.

Ten inches of rain in the hour ahead of the hurricane's leading edge drove the lake up to six feet. South swirling wind arrived and drove the entire lake - next only to the Great Lakes in size - through the dike.

An 8-feet high, 20-miles wide wall of water thundered over the half dozen towns in its path. The Punta Gorda Herald rushed out a special edition on Sept 21 and devoted most of its front page to the tragedy:

* * *

CITY'S UNSTINTED AID

PLEDGED STORM SUFFERERS

"Lurid reports of indescribable horror by a few escaped refugees from the hurricane-swept shore of Lake Okeechobee are today bringing this city into actual realization of the terrors that swept across the state a scant 50 miles east of Punta Gorda last Sunday night.

"Red cross reports from West Palm Beach this morning estimated casualties between 700 and 800, mostly residents along the south shore of the lake near Pahokee, South Bay, Belle Glade and Canal Point.

"J.C. Mock, who operated the Mock Furniture Company here until recently, before moving to Pahokee, returned yesterday with a tale of horror beyond description.

"He escaped with his family and a few friends just as the dike broke. However, whole families in nearby farm houses were swamped in their dwellings and drowned like rats in a trap.

"A railroad inspector here this morning related having seen 38 bodies of white men and women piled on an embankment which was just out of water. They could not be buried for lack of dry ground.

"H.F. Hull, local representative of Monarch Products, returned last night from Clewiston where he saw barge loads of bodies brought up to the cemetery but could not be buried because it was under water.

"Red Cross Chairman Selby said, 'We may have to spray the whole section with lime from airplanes.' He added the 'any one who disputes conditions there is doing the state a great injury.'

"'Federal aid may be required,' said Selby, as the county has not the money to carry on the work. 'We need outside financial help badly to carry out rescue work.'

"'Not more than five percent of the buildings have come through the hurricane without damage,' the Red Cross chairman said.

"The chairman denied reports that rioting had occurred in the stricken area. Plenty of armed guard are on duty, he said.

"An airplane has been scouting over the area, spotting bodies that had drifted away to almost impenetrable places.

"'Approximately 75 bodies have been stacked up near Pahokee for two days, and we have been unable to bring them here for burial,' Selby said. 'Communications to towns in the area are cut off except by boats. Rain seriously handicapped the workers today and added to the misery.'

"Virtually all Everglades country in Palm Beach County has been evacuated of women and children already, while able-bodied men are being kept and drafted for work.

"The chairman estimated the dead at South Bay alone at between 100 and 150 persons. Fifty searching parties are scouting the country looking for bodies and 'no attempt can be made toward reconstruction for weeks.'

Cremation Advised

"Fred C. Stuck, in charge of work at Pahokee, reported to the Red Cross today that cremation was the only solution of handling the bodies.

"'After an inspection of the refugees in the schoolhouse at Pahokee,' said Stuck, 'I would say that immediate, compulsory evacuation is necessary.'

"'Fish in the canals are dying by the thousands because of the poison from bodies of animals, such as rabbits, opossums and the like. The odor is becoming unbearable.'

"Since there are no facilities in the Glades for producing sufficient heat for cremation, Stuck said he advised refuse or crude oil.

"'The situation is critical,' he declared. 'Sending the bodies to West Palm Beach for burial will not be feasible after today.'

"Available reports here show that more than 300 bodies already have been recovered, brought out and buried. In and near West Palm Beach, 285 of these bodies, including 35 of whites, have been placed in cemeteries. Seventeen bodies have been recovered on the lake shore in the vicinity of Okeechobee City."

*  * *

Remainder of the front page reports the collection of cash, canned food and clothing for Lake Okeechobee victims. The names of 185 cash donors was printed in the Herald. Individual amounts ranged from 25 cents by individuals to $32 by the Rotary Club.

The three local banks were authorized to accept cash contributions, and churches gathered clothing.

 A truckload of supplies addressed to "Colored Folks In The Storm Area" was delivered to the Herald by the wife of Henry Mobley, "an aged and trusted member of the local negro community."

 A few days later, a caravan of six trucks and cars loaded with food and clothing delivered their cargoes to the Red Cross and American Legion distribution centers at West Palm Beach.

Local citizens making the seven-hour trip declared that news reports from the stricken area had underestimated the losses.

The only serious loss at Punta Gorda was the sinking of the motor ship City of Punta Blanca while moored at the Collier Line dock. Pounding  waves drove the ship onto a broken piling which pierced the hull. Captain Fred Quednau, Engineer W.B. Smith and Assistant Engineer William Jernigan leaped to the pier just five minutes before the former West Coast Fish Company vessel then known as the R.W. Powell  sank.

 As noted in contemporary news dispatches, collection and disposal of the dead was a major problem. Bodies were scattered in the Everglades saw grass and sugar cane fields.  Many people were lost and their bodies never recovered.

More than 800 unidentified bodies were transported by an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad relief train that made its way to Moore Haven on a Seaboard Coast Line spur from Palmdale. Engineer of the train was Lorenzo Thompson (see photo), father of Leon Thompson of Port Charlotte. The bodies were buried in "pauper graves" sections at several cemeteries along the line.

At first warning, a group of women and children at South Bay took refuge on a large barge on the lake. They had a wild ride when the lake surged over the dike, but they survived.

Other ironies of the disaster are recounted in a book titled "Okeechobee Hurricane and the Hoover Dike" by Lawrence E. Will.  

Deputy State Hotel Commissioner Pat Houston was thought to have absconded with a considerable amount of the state's money because of his long absence from his job. His good name was restored when his body was identified at Pahokee.

One of the storm victims, C.L. Reddick was found five days after the flood, still guarded by his faithful dog.

Arthur Stokes, an African-American worker arrested for murder before the hurricane, was released at his trial because all witnesses drowned in the storm.

Most amazing of all, an 83-year-old woman from Belle Glade was found alive in a steel washtub four days after the storm.

Author: Lindsey Williams

cutline - 3 col. man on locomotive

Photo courtesy of Leon Thompson

[ Lorenzo Thompson, locomotive engineer for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, posed for this photo when he arrived at Moore Haven with relief supplies. He returned with more than 800 unidentified corpses for burial in cemeteries up the line. ]

 ooooooo END oooooo

NOTE - special story, front page - photo not used