1928 Lake Okeechobee storm was Florida's worst

It remains the deadliest natural disaster in Florida history, killing more people than Hurricanes Andrew, Katrina, Wilma and Sandy combined.

On the night of Sept. 16, 1928, a Category 4 hurricane struck near West Palm Beach with 150 mph winds, angled over Lake Okeechobee, triggered severe flooding and ultimately killed at least 2,500 people.

These days, the 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane has been largely forgotten, obscured by time and other storms. But with its 85th anniversary Monday, it's an important part of the state's history, weather officials say.

"Most people probably would not remember it as Florida's worst disaster; they would say Andrew or Donna or more recent storms," said Rusty Pfost, former head of the National Weather Service Miami office. "But with such a huge death toll, we need to give it the notoriety it merits."

Because of sophisticated weather forecasting tools, mandatory evacuation zones and stronger levees around the lake, weather officials say South Florida would be much better prepared if the same storm hit today. But it still would be devastating, said meteorologist Robert Molleda of the weather service in Miami.

"You would hope it wouldn't lead to the same number of deaths," he said. "But we have so many more people here now, so many more buildings and homes."

Just two years before the 1928 system, another Category 4 hurricane struck Miami in 1926, causing enormous damage and killing as many as 800 people. It would turn out to be a harbinger of a more vicious storm to come.

The Lake Okeechobee system originated as a tropical wave coming off Africa. By the time it plowed over the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, it had intensified to a Category 3 and killed more than 1,500 people across the Caribbean.

Although forecasters in Florida knew an intense storm was coming, they lost track of it when it reached the Bahamas because radio towers in the Caribbean, used to transmit weather information back to the states, were destroyed.

As a result, hundreds of buildings and houses from Fort Lauderdale to Stuart were destroyed and thousands were left homeless.

But the real catastrophe came when the storm's surge forced water over low levees around Lake Okeechobee. About 450 square miles, primarily on the south and east side of the lake, were submerged.

Initially, it was thought that about 1,800 people had been killed, most of them non-white migrant farm workers who lived in towns around the lake. But Pfost restudied the number of victim graves and determined the death toll was at least 2,500, possibly much higher.

In all, including the Caribbean, the 1928 hurricane killed more than 4,000 people and left about $20.7 billion in U.S. damage in 2013 dollars. It still is the second deadliest U.S. natural disaster behind the 1900 Galveston hurricane, which killed about 8,000 people.

"It's definitely one of the most historic hurricanes here in South Florida," Molleda said.

kkaye@tribune.com or 954-572-2085

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-lake-okeechobee-hurricane-20130913,0,2453679.story?track=rss

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