The Okeechobee Hurricane or Hurricane San Felipe Segundo was a deadly hurricane that struck Guadaloupe, Puerto Rico, and southern Florida in September of the 1928 Atlantic hurricane season. The hurricane killed at least 4,075 people and caused around $100 million (1928 US dollars) in damages over the course of its path. It was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane ever officially recorded in the Atlantic basin.[1]
| hurricane | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 6, 1928 |
| Dissipated | September 20, 1928 |
Storm history
Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
Unknown
Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depressionThe storm formed as a Cape Verde-type hurricane off the coast of Africa. Hurricane analysis in the 1990s found that the storm probably formed on September 6. It was first sighted in the tropics on the 10th.
On September 12 the hurricane passed by Guadeloupe, which reported a pressure of 27.76 inHg (940 mbar). It then moved over the Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands, where a ship just south of St. Croix reported it as a stronger storm with a pressure of 27.50 inHg (931 mbar). On the 13th the storm struck Puerto Rico directly as a Category 5 hurricane, allegedly packing winds of 160 mph (255 km/h); reliable reports from San Juan placed the windspeed at 125 knots (145 mph, 230 km/h), and a report from Guayama placed the pressure at 27.65 inHg (936 mbar). [2] (Note that wind measurements from this period are often not reliable because measuring equipment would fail under the winds of a strong hurricane. Pressure measurements — measured at the time in inches of mercury — are considered reliable but most measurements are not taken from the eye of the storm.) Next it passed over the Bahamas.
After leaving the Caribbean, the hurricane gained strength again as it moved toward Florida. In the evening of September 16 the storm made landfall in southern Florida as a strong Category 4 hurricane. Atmospheric pressure at landfall was measured at 929 mbar (hPa) and winds "in excess" of 150 mph (240 km/h) (but note all such measurements are suspect). The eye passed ashore in Palm Beach County, then moved directly over Lake Okeechobee.
The hurricane's path turned northeast as it crossed Florida, taking it across northern Florida, eastern Georgia, and the Carolinas on September 19. It then moved inland and merged with a low-pressure system around Toronto on the 20th.
Impact
| Storm Deaths by Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Deaths | Locale | Deaths |
| United States | 2500+[3] | Florida | 2500+ |
| Caribbean | 1575[4] | Puerto Rico | 312 |
| Guadeloupe | 600-1200 | ||
| Martinique | 3 | ||
| Grand Turk Island | 18 | ||
| Total | 4075+ | ||
Caribbean
The death toll in Guadeloupe was 600—1200[4]. Damage was not reported but was presumably catastrophic.
The U.S. Virgin Islands suffered heavy damage, although no fatalities were reported.
In Puerto Rico, which received the worst of the storm's winds, official reports put the death toll as 312 and damages at $50 million (1928 US dollars)[5]. It is remembered as the San Felipe Hurricane because the eye of the cyclone made landfall on the Christian feast day of Saint Phillip; the Latin American custom, since the Spanish colonial era began in 1492, was to name these storms upon their arrival after Catholic religious feast days. It was named "Segundo" (Spanish for "the Second") because of the eerie similarity in devastation with another hurricane which made landfall in Puerto Rico on that very same day 52 years earlier.
In the Bahamas the storm claimed another 18 lives.
Florida
Damage along the Palm Beach coastline from the heavy winds and 10 foot (3 meter) 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 (225 km/h) – the low pressure and south-blowing wind caused a storm 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 ft (6 m) deep. Houses were floated off of their foundations and dashed to pieces against any obstacle they encountered[6]. 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 devastation. 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 (older sources usually list 3,411 as the total count of fatalities, including the Caribbean). However in 2003 this was revised as "at least" 2,500, making the Okeechobee hurricane the second-deadliest natural disaster in United States history (after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900) (as of 2004).
| Most intense landfalling tropical cyclones in the United States Intensity is measured solely by central pressure | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | System | Season | Landfall pressure |
| 1 | "Labor Day" | 1935 | 892 mbar (hPa) |
| 2 | Camille | 1969 | 900 mbar (hPa) |
| Yutu | 2018 | ||
| 4 | Michael | 2018 | 919 mbar (hPa) |
| 5 | Katrina | 2005 | 920 mbar (hPa) |
| Maria | 2017 | ||
| 7 | Andrew | 1992 | 922 mbar (hPa) |
| 8 | "Indianola" | 1886 | 925 mbar (hPa) |
| 9 | "Guam" | 1900 | 926 mbar (hPa) |
| 10 | "Florida Keys" | 1919 | 927 mbar (hPa) |
| Source: HURDAT,[7] Hurricane Research Division[8] | |||
Thousands of people were left homeless in Florida; property damage was estimated at $25 million (1928 US dollars). It is estimated that if a storm like this were to strike in modern times (the year 2003) it would cause $18.7 billion in damages. However a levee breach of this kind is unlikely (but perhaps not impossible) to occur again because of the much larger Herbert Hoover Dike that now contains the waters of Lake Okeechobee.
Racial issues
Although the hurricane destroyed everything in its path with impartiality, the death toll was by far highest in the economically poor areas in the low-lying ground right around the lake. Around 75% of the fatalities were from migrant farm workers, most of whom were black. Black workers did most of the cleanup, and the few caskets available for burials were mostly used for the bodies of whites. Other bodies were either burned or buried in mass graves. Burials were segregated and the only mass gravesite to receive a memorial contained only white bodies. The inequity has caused further racial friction that still exists today.[9][10]
See also
References
- ^ http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/satelliteseye/educational/cat5hur.html NOAA's list of category 5 storms
- ^ http://www.southcom.mil/usag-miami/sites/hurricane/hurricane_history.asp Hurricane History
- ^ http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E12.html NOAA's Strongest, Costliest, Deadliest US Hurricanes
- ^ a b http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadlyapp1.shtml NOAA's Deadliest Atlantic Hurricanes
- ^ http://www.southcom.mil/usag-miami/sites/hurricane/hurricane_history.asp Hurricane History
- ^ http://www2.sptimes.com/weather/HG.2.html St. Petersburg Times article
- ^ "Atlantic hurricane best track (HURDAT version 2)" (Database). United States National Hurricane Center. May 11, 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public ___domain.
- Landsea, Chris (April 2022). "The revised Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2) - Chris Landsea – April 2022" (PDF). Hurricane Research Division – NOAA/AOML. Miami: Hurricane Research Division – via Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
- Landsea, Chris (April 2022). "The revised Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2) - Chris Landsea – April 2022" (PDF). Hurricane Research Division – NOAA/AOML. Miami: Hurricane Research Division – via Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.
- ^ Landsea, Chris; Anderson, Craig; Bredemeyer, William; et al. (February 2024). Detailed List of Continental United States Hurricane Impacts/Landfalls 1851-1970, 1983-2023. Re-Analysis Project (Report). Miami, Florida: Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division.
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2003-09-04-hurricane-usat_x.htm USA Today 75-year article
- ^ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/storm/about/history/1928hurricane.html Palm Beach Post article
External links
Print sources
- Kleinberg, Eliot. (2003) Black Cloud: The Great Florida Storm of 1928. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0786711469