Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
by Willie Drye
On This Page
Description
"In 1934, hundreds of jobless World War I veterans were sent to the remote Florida Keys to build a highway from Miami to Key West. The Roosevelt Administration was making a genuine effort to help these down-and-out vets, many of whom suffered from what is known today as post-traumatic stress disorder. But the attempt to help them turned into a tragedy. The supervisors in charge of the veterans misunderstood the danger posed by hurricanes in the low-lying Florida Keys. In late August 1935, a show more small, stealthy tropical storm crossed the Bahamas, causing little damage. When it entered the Straits of Florida, however, it exploded into one of the most powerful hurricanes on record. But US Weather Bureau forecasters could only guess at its exact position, and their calculations were well off the mark. The hurricane that struck the Upper Florida Keys on the evening of September 2, 1935 is still the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the US. Supervisors waited too long to call for an evacuation train from Miami to move the vets out of harm's way. The train was slammed by the storm surge soon after it reached Islamorada. Only the 160-ton locomotive was left upright on the tracks. About 400 veterans were left unprotected in flimsy work camps. Around 260 of them were killed. This is their story, with newly discovered photos and stories of some of the heroes of the Labor Day 1935 calamity."--Provided by publisher. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
4 Works 141 Members
Willie Drye's last book, For Sale-American Paradise: How Americans Were Sold an Impossible Dream in Florida, won a 2016 IPPY Award Silver Medal for nonfiction.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
- Important places
- Florida, USA; Florida Keys, Florida, USA
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 975.941062; 975.941063
- Canonical LCC
- F317.M7
- Disambiguation notice
- Revised (2nd) Edition in 2019
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, Science & Nature, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 975.941062 — History & geography History of North America Southeastern United States (South Atlantic states) Florida Peninsular Southwest Florida Monroe County
- LCC
- F317 .M7 — Local History of the United States, Canada and Latin America United States local history Florida
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 120
- Popularity
- 270,706
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.76)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
