The breeding ground for most hurricanes is thousands of miles away, off the northern coast of Africa near Cape Verde. These reports could be highly inaccurate, especially if a hurricane suddenly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 monster. Even though there were plenty of ships at any given time, the information they provided gave meteorologists, at best, a general idea of the storm’s location. Weathermen relied on ship-to-shore reports. In 1935, there was no radar to track hurricanes as they came barreling in from the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico. The problem with those statistics is that there is plenty of evidence to refute each. The official numbers are sustained winds of 185 mph, barometric pressure of 892 mb and 485 fatalities. In 1926 a hurricane hit the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area with devastating effect, claiming upwards of 500 lives, while around 2,000 were estimated to have died on the shores of Lake Okeechobee when the 1928 storm ravaged West Palm Beach and tore across the unprotected lakeside towns of the interior.No one will ever know the true wind speed, barometric pressure or death toll of the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, the most powerful Atlantic storm to make landfall on the United States. The hurricane area is much smaller and the winds are of far less velocity, they said. Within the area where hurricane warnings were up are Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach with its sister resort city, Palm Beach, Everglades, Naples, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, Venice, Hollywood, Homestead and other localities which form the bulk of southern Florida’s famous resort centers.Ĭommenting on the latest advisory, extending the hurricane danger zone, weather bureau officials said the present storm cannot be compared with the great hurricanes of 19. Northeast storm warnings were ordered from West Palm Beach northward to Titusville on the Atlantic coast and from Punta Gorda to Carrabelle on the west. The disturbance was described by the weather bureau as of full hurricane intensity but rather small in diameter, moving northwestward. Some resident of Everglades, on the West coast, left for Fort Myers until the passage of the storm. Labor Day 1935: Most powerful hurricane in U.S. The boys, fourteen and fifteen years old, managed to reach the island and tied their shirts to the upper fronds of the palm trees to attract attention. They had gone into the bay this afternoon in an auxiliary powered sailboat but the motor failed when a wave slapped the side of the craft. Two boys, Don and Harold Summers, marooned on a small island in Biscayne bay here, were rescued by the marine ambulance Philcris as they clung to coconut palms to avoid being washed away by the huge waves. Hugh O’Neal, 50, was taken to a hospital here when he suffered cuts from a wind-blown plank. View Gallery: Photos of strongest hurricane ever: 1935 Labor Day hurricane Two Boys Saved Small debris was being blown about in several cities and towns in the southern area, mostly from trees and shrubbery. Traffic confusion caused of number of automobile collisions in Miami and a five-story construction elevator was blown over at Miami Beach, without damage to adjacent property. Railway telegraph and telephone lines were down south of Homestead. The dispatcher’s office was inclined to believe the train had reached its destination, but was halted there by the storm. No word had come from Matacumbe where a special railway train went late today to remove 700 veterans engaged in highway construction there. Only minor damage reports had been received. A lighthouse keeper at Alligator key, seventy-five miles northeast of Key West, reported a sustained wind of eighty miles an hour swept the keys in that vicinity around 9 p.m. placed the center of the disturbance near Matacumbe key, about fifty miles north of Key West and seventy-five miles southwest of Miami. Storm tracker: Spaghetti models, latest forecastsĪn advisory at 10 p.m. Helpful hacks: Hurricane tips to get by without power and water The fury of a tropical storm beat across the Florida keys tonight and as it whirled northwestward the entire southern tip of the peninsula was warned of possible hurricane winds.Ĭitizens of Key West breathed a sigh of relief as the storm center moved to the northward of the island city but those in mainland cities and towns all the way around the coast from West Palm Beach to Carrabelle on the Gulf hastily took precautions. The Associated Press was there and published this story on Sept. The hurricane killed 408 people and was one of the 10 deadliest storms in U.S. MIAMI - The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, which hit the Florida Keys, was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States, based on barometric pressure.
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