The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926

you know i'm not a big sports guy but if you've ever paid attention to collegiate football you've probably heard of the university of miami which is a private research institution in coral gables florida whose football program is so storied and successful that they are tied for fourth for the most associated press national poll championships and one of the things that's unique about the university of miami is their unique nickname the miami hurricanes and of course that's apropos because florida is of course a hot spot for hurricanes but you might not have known that the university of miami hurricanes are named after a specific hurricane one that nearly sank the university at the time the national weather bureau described the cyclone that hit miami between september 17th and 20th 1926 as probably the most destructive storm in the history of the united states the great miami hurricane of 1926 otherwise known as the big blow deserves to be remembered in the 1920s florida was overtaken by a wave of speculation called the florida land boom the combination of the economic prosperity of the 1920s and miami's reputation as a tropical paradise drove both speculation and a wave of construction that made miami the fastest growing city in the united states in his 1936 book miami millions author kenneth ballinger wrote the most spectacular real estate boom of modern times was getting ready to sprinkle its heedless millions over the state of florida in 1924 the coast where pirates under morgan and lafitte once applied their evil trades spouted such riches that in one place oceanside developers actually abandoned a pirate treasure chest that they could feel with their dredges to get on with the more renumerative work of building a subdivision to sell apparently those florida developers were unaware that all good stories involve pirates the excitement of the time was encapsulated in a 1924 jazz picture film starring betty cumpson as a girl whose only thought was the mad pursuit of pleasure and thrills and the conquest of the other sex the boom was so spectacular that ballinger says that in october 1924 it was not unusual for people with as little as a thousand dollars invested in a proposition to sell their option for sixty thousand dollars the land boom drove an enormous amount of construction in 1924 more than 17 million dollars in new construction was started in miami the population of miami more than doubled between 1920 and 1926. one of the places where construction was booming was the city of coral gables a planned community southwest of miami established in 1925. that building boom included the university of miami an institution founded largely on the land boom as the university website explains the university of miami was chartered in 1925 by a group of citizens who felt an institution of higher learning was needed for the development of their young and growing community the south florida land boom was at its peak resources appeared ample optimism flowed and expectations were high but what appeared to be a boom was actually a bubble a bubble that ballinger notes had hit its peak in november of 1925. the real estate climate was already cooling by the time the university of miami prepared to hold its first classes in the fall of 1926. the south florida sun sentinel wrote in 1993 it had not been a good year for south florida a wild real estate boom had collapsed millionaires at the end of 1925 have become poor folks by the middle of 1926. solid citizens skipped monthly payments and tax bills and lost their homes businesses failed the sun still shone but its rays bounced off the bleaching skeletons of unfinished buildings where had the good times of the roaring twenties gone oh well thought-battered floridans things couldn't get worse hurricanes in south florida were of course nothing new according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration the first recorded hurricane in south florida sank two spanish ships in 1523. noaa lists 159 known hurricanes to stuck florida before 1900 with storms in 1692 and 1781 killing more than a thousand people each the damage was so significant in south florida in the first part of the 20th century that author john veli wrote in his 1996 book the florida keys a history of the pioneers that it spelled the end of the florida pineapple industry but the boom had resulted in an important legacy as the website of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration notes miami swelled with new residents optimistic speculative and woefully under-educated about hurricanes thus despite the area's long history with cyclones florida after the land boom was woefully unprepared when a hurricane was bearing down in september of 1926. the south florida sun sentinel explains there was no sense of alarm most of the 200 000 people living in the storm's projected path were new to florida lured here by the easy money of the land boom having never seen a hurricane they had little knowledge of a storm's destructive force it would cost many of them their lives as the public broadcasting services program the american experience noted the last major hurricane that hit florida in 1910 when the population of miami beach could be counted on one maybe two hands on september 15 1926 the national weather bureau issued warnings of three large tropical storms building in the caribbean the warnings fell not on death but uncomprehending ears the noaa webpage says of the storm the great miami hurricane of 1926 was of classic cape verde origin first known to the weather bureau from ship reports in the central tropic atlantic on september 11th but then the storm took a track that left the nation's weather bureau in the dark noah continues it passed north of the leeward islands of puerto rico on the 14th 15th and 16th avoiding normal channels of caribbean information in those days before satellite pictures and reconnaissance aircraft the hurricane remained somewhat of a mystery with only a few ship reports to tell of its existence there was therefore little warning the noaa webpage continues as late as the morning of september 17th less than 24 hours before the category four storms effects would begin in south florida no warnings had been issued at noon the miami weather bureau office was authorized to post a storm warning one step below hurricane with winds of 48 to 55 knots it was only as the barometer began to precipitously fall around 11 p.m the night of september 17th that the miami bureau hoisted hurricane warnings even then the sun sentinel notes in 1926 there were a few avenues for warning people only a handful of people owned radios to hear the warnings broadcast on south florida's only radio station the monthly meteorological notes of the national weather beer read the hurricane came with great suddenness except for a moderate but steady fall the barometer after 10 am on the 17th there were no unusual meteorological conditions to herald the approach of the storm at the time there was no standardized system for naming tropical storms like we have today no system would be standardized until around 1951 residents who survived the storm simply called it the big blow a writer from the united press said of the storm no one was expecting anything of the proportions what happened i have never experienced anything like it and i hope i never will again the wind shook tore wrenched the buildings to venture into it was unthinkable debris flew through the air times there was a roar accompanying the storm that was deafening was difficult to breathe if people screamed for help probably no one could hear them another anonymous account from an employee of the sinclair refining company that was published in the south florida history magazine in 1989 talks about people seeking refuge in a downtown miami hotel the hotel had filled with refugees many of them having lost everything they owned except what they had on them in their lives we went around the lobby trying to figure out how many languages were being used in prayers counted hungarian polish swedish irish english and profane at the weather bureau downtown it was difficult to provide accurate measurement as the equipment kept being swept away by the storm richard gray head of the office wrote in the monthly weather review the top of the rain gate blew off at 3 42 a.m and was recovered and replaced by mr c.b mosley jr the assistant at this station it was again blown off a few minutes later and lost part of it was found the next day on the roof of a nearby building the instrument shelter blew away between 4am and 5am landing in the street below and crashing into the automobile of mr arthur peavy a miami daily news staff writer who was on duty at the weather bureau office then remarkably the storm subsided quickly gray wrote that there was an abrupt decrease in wind velocity between 6 10 and 6 15 am the damage was substantial a letter reported in the south florida history magazine said all signs and awnings were down and most of the shop windows open you could help yourself to anything in them and some were doing that but the area was at the point of its greatest danger and the inexperienced population didn't understand hurricanes the storm hadn't passed in fact miami was at its very center in the deceptively calm eye of the storm gray wrote many people had spent the night in downtown buildings rushed out to view the wreckage that filled the streets i warned those in the vicinity of the federal building that the storm was not over then it would be dangerous to remain in the open but few heard the warning the nova webpage explains the eye of the hurricane with its period of relative calm passed over downtown miami and parts of coconut grove and south miami around 6 30 a.m on september 18th residents of the city unfamiliar with hurricanes thought the storm was over and emerged from their places of refuge out into the city streets people even began returning to the mainland from miami beach people had come out from cover cars began crossing the bridge from heart hit miami beach thinking was finally safe to leave but the worst part was yet to come some of the news reports at the time talked about a second storm not realizing that they were seeing the same storm gray wrote the low lasted 35 minutes and during this time the streets of the city became crowded with people as a result many lives were lost during the second phase of the storm moreover what gray had described as the second phase of the storm as the relative lull of the eye past was more destructive than the first another anonymous witness from a letter published in the magazine south beach usa wrote the fiercest and most inescapable of all elemental disturbances the west indian hurricane that destroyed the jewel-like resort communities roared out of the sea and wrought its dreadful havoc under a canopy of storm clouds then when terrified thousands thought its fury spent and were about to begin the work of counting its toll it circled and struck again with redoubled intensity completing the devastation of its first blow and leaving vaster ruin in its wake gray wrote in the typically dry language of the monthly weather report the distribution of the wreckage indicated more damage was done during the second phase than during the first phase of the storm the noaa webpage expounds the worst part of the hurricane with onshore southeasterly winds bringing a 10-foot storm surge onto miami beach in the barrier islands began around 7 a.m and continued the rest of the morning at the height of the storm surge the water from the atlantic extended all the way across miami beach and biscayne bay into the city of miami for several city blocks pbs's american experience described the damage structural damage was stupefying utility poles hurtled through the air roofs were torn from buildings electricity and water were cut off even the beach seemed to shift collins avenue was covered in sand as were lobbies of prestigious oceanfront hotels the sand even swallowed some of the cars trying to escape miami beach during the lull gray noted one automobile dug from the sand several days after the storm contained the bodies of a man his wife and two children the anonymous sinclair employee wrote never saw such destruction in all my young life practically every house was damaged in some way porch is gone roofs gone windows and awnings gone and some absolutely demolished they're still finding bodies in them often looking for them because of the odor coming from them the web page of the us army installation management command for the southeast region notes that every building in the downtown district of miami was damaged or destroyed the town of moorhaven on the south side of lake okeechobee was completely flooded by lake surge and from the hurricane hundreds of people in moore haven alone were killed by the surge with less behind floodwaters in the town for weeks afterwards the extent of the surge was evident from the boats some of them massive that lay in the city streets the boston globe reported scores of tugs freighters yachts pleasure boats and dredges were dashed against the wharves at miami and sunk or lifted by the tidal wave and deposited 50 yards or more inland upon biscayne boulevard altogether there are less than a half dozen vessels of all kinds left on the waterfront on september 21st the brooklyn daily eagle of brooklyn new york quoted harold w cole manager of public relations for florida east coast railway war can be no more terrible than the devastation rocked miami is smashed coral gables is badly wrecked hollywood is badly hurt while fort lauderdale danny and pompano are virtually leveled for those four hours it was terrible beyond description our windows crashed in falling tiles from surrounding homes crashed against our house and afterwards we saw that these blown by the wind with incredible velocity made gashes in the house that an axe could not have made for a few lines mr gray at the weather bureau abandoned the dispassionate reporting of the weather gauges to describe the terror of an atlantic hurricane the intensity of the storm and the wreckage it left cannot adequately be described the continuous roar of the wind and the crash of the falling buildings flying debris and plate glass the shriek of fire apparatus and ambulances that rendered assistance until the streets became impassable the terrifically driven rain that came in sheets as densest fog the electrical flashes from live wires had left the memory of a fearful night in the minds of the many thousands that were in the storm area without power and communication to the outside local resources were overwhelmed the letter reported in south beach usa said so complete was the ruin wrought in miami in its sister communities at nearly 24 hours elapsed before the first word of the disaster reached the outside world the stricken cities began their own feeble attempts at checking the toll and riding the damage before the rest of the world even knew of their loss the boston globe wrote business in these cities and towns does not exist banks and stores are closed most of them if not completely destroyed are mere hulks thousands of great plate glass windows were smashed like eggshells by the force of the hurricane a few restaurants were able to serve meals in miami saturday afternoon but the available supply of meat bread and other food was soon exhausted relief came from all over the nation as president calvin coolidge made a national appeal for donations to the red cross and dispatched the army and coast guard to assist in the relief efforts the extent of the storm was significant at the time was considered to be the worst natural disaster to strike the united states since the 1906 san francisco earthquake and fire today it's considered to be the 12th strongest and 12th deadliest storm to obstruct the united states in the 20th century the red cross officially listed 372 dead although many more might have been unaccounted for and as many as 800 were listed as missing property damage was large as much as 1.65 billion dollars in adjusted dollars but perhaps most notable is the estimate given the growth in population construction and property values that if the same storm hit today the damage would be on the order of 157 billion dollars which would make it the most expensive atlantic hurricane in history the university of miami which had been built on the optimism of the florida land boom started its first classes just a couple of weeks after the storm but the storm had washed away all that optimism and the university spent its first 15 years struggling financially on the verge of bankruptcy nearly sunk by the great hurricane the football program that is so storied today had to delay their very first game for a month because of the storm they played the game on october 23rd they beat nearby rollins college by a score of seven to nothing by the end of 1926 they had settled on their nickname the hurricanes it was the timing of the storm that had the biggest economic impact it put a final end to the florida land boom investors walked away people who had invested lost their fortunes in florida sank into the great depression three years ahead of the rest of the country the york times of york pennsylvania summed it up very well in their headline playground of the nation transformed into scene of desolation but it was perhaps a young woman who was part of a couple that apparently lost everything that ran into that anonymous sinclair employee who summed it up best the employee said she tried not to cry she laid her head on her husband's shoulder and she said i wish we had never seen miami i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guide short snippets of forgotten history and if you did enjoy feed the algorithm by making a comment or clicking that like button if you have suggestions for future episodes please send 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Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 90,189

Rating: 4.9854794 out of 5

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, miami, florida, hurricane, history of weather

Id: th-BtR7Embw

Length: 17min 13sec (1033 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021