For Sale —American Paradise (64 page)

198. And it may have been worse at Guayama:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 351

198. In Coamo, only about eighteen miles northwest of where the storm came ashore, Felicia Cartegena: “The Hurricane's Tragic Toll,” no byline,
The Literary Digest
, October 6, 1928, p. 14

199. And there was one more unusual death:
Palm Beach Post
, September 14, 1928

199. Red Cross officials later estimated that the hurricane had left: American Red Cross news release, September 16, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

199. The
Palm Beach Post
of Friday, September 14:
Palm Beach Post
, September 14, 1928

199. By mid-
month, Lake Okeechobee was frighteningly high:
Monthly Weather Review
, August 1928, p. 77;
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 89; Will, Lawrence E.,
Okeechobee Hurricane: Killer Storms in the Everglades
(Belle Glade, Florida, The Glades Historical Society, 1990) p. 49

199. “Florida May Feel Storm's Wrath”:
Palm Beach Post
, September 15, 1928

199. Around three p.m. Saturday, the eye of the storm passed over the German steamer
August Leonhardt
:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 347

200. At eleven p.m. Saturday night, the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, DC, issued statement:
Miami Daily News
, September 16, 1928

200. Brisbane was detached and flippant about the powerful storm:
Palm Beach Post
, September 16, 1928

200. That same morning, American Red Cross vice chairman James Fieser: American Red Cross news release, September 16, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

200. On his small farm near Belle Glade, Jack Zuber:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

201. “This hurricane is of wide extent and great severity”:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 348

201. Attorney Everett Muskoff Jr. and his wife:
The Evening Independent
, September 18, 1928

201. Around the same time, Frances Ball left the Hotel Pennsylvania: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

201. About forty miles inland from West Palm Beach: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

202. Around 2:30 p.m., downtown West Palm Beach was being drenched:
Lowell Sun
, September 25, 1928

202. At the Harvey Building, Frances Ball and her friend: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

202. By five p.m., Margaret and Amos Best and their children:
Lowell Sun
, September 25, 1928

203. Nineteen people had gathered at the home of Pat Burke: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

203. Jack Zuber noticed that the water in a nearby canal:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

204. “A little after seven the lull came”: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

204. The
Miami Daily News
later reported that the destruction:
Miami Daily News
, September 17, 1928

204. “So it was just a little bit before dark that the water began”: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

205. Zora Neale Hurston eloquently described: Hurston, Zora Neale
, Their Eyes Were Watching God
(New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006) p. 158

205. San Felipe, in effect, was still over water as it roared inland: Interview with Michael Laca, producer of
TropMet.Com
, in Miami, October 8, 2014

205. In Belle Glade, Jabo Tryon was digging into his pie: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

205. A few minutes before eight p.m., the barometric pressure reading in nearby Canal Point was 28.54:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 349

206. Jack Zuber walked into the kitchen of his house:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

206. At nine p.m., the barometer at Canal Point was reading 27.97:
Monthly Weather Review
, September 1928, p. 349

206. “Water was lapping up over the porch”:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

206. In the Tedder Hotel in Belle Glade: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

206. At Jack Zuber's farm, the water had risen:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

207. San Felipe's winds had driven more and more water against the dikes: Hurston, Zora Neale,
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006) p. 158

207. Water began filling the house where nineteen people, including Helen McCormick: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida;
Ocala Star-Banner
, October 30, 1981

208. The stalks closed around them, weaving a lattice-like trap:
South Florida Developer
, September 28, 1928

208. As the storm started rising, Vernon Boots and his family decided: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

208. In Indiantown, a blast of wind lifted a small building:
South Florida Developer
, September 20, 1928

208. Frances Ball and her companions picked their way: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

209. At about the same time Frances Ball went to bed, Margaret Best finished:
Lowell Sun
, September 25, 1928

209. Frances Ball, still picking bits of plaster: Frances Ball, letter to parents, September 17, 1928, from the collection of Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

209. Vernon Boots and his brothers began slogging: “The Night 2,000 Died,” produced by Glades-area students in the Gifted and Talented Program, 1988; from the collection of the Palm Beach County Public Library, Belle Glade, Florida

210. “Water, knee-
deep, covered all the land”: Will, Lawrence E.,
Okeechobee Hurricane: Killer Storms in the Everglades
(Belle Glade, Florida, The Glades Historical Society, 1990) pp. 131–132

210. Jack Zuber, still unconscious on the raft that had been a side of his house:
Miami Daily News
, September 24, 1928

210. But the Red Cross was getting alarming reports: Telegram, J. Denham Bird to American Red Cross Headquarters, Washington, D.C., September 17, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

210. In Jacksonville, Red Cross officials received a message from an amateur radio operator: American Red Cross News Release, September 17, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284,
West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

211. “If necessary, of course, I will act on the request.”: Kleinberg, Eliot,
Black Cloud: The Great Florida Hurricane of 1928
(New York, Carroll & Graf, Publishers, 2003) p. 130

211. Without waiting for details of the Lake Okeechobee horror to emerge:
Tampa Morning Tribune
, September 19, 1928

211. As the storm spun northward, an announcer on WDBO radio:
Tampa Morning Tribune
, September 21, 1928

211–12. The
Palm Beach Post
said the Red Cross was estimating that fifty people had been killed:
Palm Beach Post
, September 18, 1928

212. The
St. Petersburg Times
reported that thirty bodies, most of them African Americans:
St. Petersburg Times
, September 18, 1928

212. “If you have made any winter plans about Florida, don't let any news reports”:
Tampa Morning Tribune
, September 19, 1928

212. In Tallahassee, Governor John Martin also was following:
Stuart Daily News
, September 21, 1928

212. Around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19, Red Cross vice chairman James Fieser: Transcript of radio messages to American National Red Cross, September 19, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

213. But the editorial page in that day's edition of the
Tampa Morning Tribune
:
Tampa Morning Tribune
, September 19, 1928

213. “Cyclone or hurricane damage is essentially surface damage”:
Wall Street Journal
, September 19, 1928

213.
Miami Daily News
readers got a jarring look at San Felipe's work:
Miami Daily News
, September 20, 1928

214. Cecelia Copeland, a reporter for the
St. Petersburg Times
:
St. Petersburg Times
, September 21, 1928

214. Howard Selby, the Red Cross chairman for Palm Beach County, sent a telegram to Peter Knight:
Palm Beach Post
, September 21, 1928

214. The two high-
ranking state officials stopped there:
Stuart Daily News
, September 21, 1928

215. In Tampa, Peter Knight tried to deflect harsh criticism:
St. Petersburg Times
, September 21, 1928

215. “Conditions Lake Okeechobee region simply terrible”: “Bulletin/The West Indies-Florida Hurricane,” September 21, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the
American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

216. “It boils down to this”: “Report of Paul Hoxie, Commander of the Legion Post St. Petersburg,” September 24, 1928; Box 750, Folder 284, West Indies Hurricane 9-13-28, Donated Records Collection (Formerly Records Group 200), Records of the American National Red Cross 1917–1934, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

216. Around midnight, a weary and stunned Martin invited reporters:
Palm Beach Post
, September 22, 1928

216. The editorial followed the same formula as earlier ones:
Wall Street Journal
, September 22, 1928

217. “Just a few hours ago I saw the bodies of thirty-two colored men”:
South Florida Developer
, September 28, 1928

217. “There is a political reason for the apparently senseless”:
Wall Street Journal
, September 24, 1928

218. An editorial in the
Grand Rapids Herald
:
Grand Rapids Herald
, September 28, 1928