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Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
The most powerful hurricane in United States history assaulted the Florida Keys in 1935, one of the darkest years of the Great Depression. With winds surpassing 200 miles an hour and a storm surge topping 20 feet, the “Storm of the Century” killed more than 400 people in a two-day span, devastating small villages and killing hundreds of World War I veterans working on a federally sponsored project—and kicking up a far-reaching political storm of acrimony and controversy in its wake.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2002
35 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Willie Drye
9 books1 followerWillie Drye has been chasing stories for more than 30 years and has written about everything from urban planning to wedding planning for magazines and newspapers across the US and Canada. His work has been published in the Washington Post, Toronto Globe and Mail, and other regional and national publications.
Drye is a contributing editor for National Geographic News and has written about hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis and dozens of other topics. His stories about Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike set page-view records at NG News.
He was the winner of the first place Charlie Award for Public Service from the Florida Magazine Association in 2007 for a package of stories about how Key West and the Florida Keys would be affected by a catastrophic hurricane. The stories were published in Key West Magazine.
Drye's first book, Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, was praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and others, and is regarded by many meteorologists as the definitive book about this tragic and fascinating event. The book was made into a documentary film by the History Channel titled "Nature's Fury: Storm of the Century."
Drye served in the US Army Medical Corps, earned an Honorable Discharge, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in North Carolina, where he divides his time between Plymouth and Wilmington.
Drye is a contributing editor for National Geographic News and has written about hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis and dozens of other topics. His stories about Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike set page-view records at NG News.
He was the winner of the first place Charlie Award for Public Service from the Florida Magazine Association in 2007 for a package of stories about how Key West and the Florida Keys would be affected by a catastrophic hurricane. The stories were published in Key West Magazine.
Drye's first book, Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, was praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and others, and is regarded by many meteorologists as the definitive book about this tragic and fascinating event. The book was made into a documentary film by the History Channel titled "Nature's Fury: Storm of the Century."
Drye served in the US Army Medical Corps, earned an Honorable Discharge, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in North Carolina, where he divides his time between Plymouth and Wilmington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 28, 2020
Wow - what a read! I felt like I was right there looking at the aftermath. I felt people's sorrow and anguish. What a tragedy! This is an awesome recounting told in such accurate and chilling detail.
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
#StormoftheCenturylabordayhurricane1935 #NetGalley
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
#StormoftheCenturylabordayhurricane1935 #NetGalley
August 2, 2020
Very well researched book and nicely written. I will say that having a list of characters (persons) would have greatly benefited the narrative as there are a lot of names to follow and keep up with. But the author does a great job keeping you on pace with the pre and post game analysis of the worst hurricane in history to strike the US coast.
October 1, 2020
I have read short accounts of this hurricane over the years, but it's the first whole book I've found devoted to it. tragic story all round. Being from Ohio, I never really give to much thought to hurricanes (other than the large ones that pass over us and dump torrential rain) It didn't exactly surprise me that the government didn't take blame for this event and the loss of life, it never does. But that the whole grave situation of the deceased should still be ongoing in the 21st century is just appalling. The government and military folks knew better and treated our vets abominably. Sad story. It's like we all know, or should know by now, be prepared to look after yourself and loved ones, no one comes to your aid. Well written book.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
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March 9, 2015I LEAVE FOR FLORIDA ON THURSDAY. REC RECS FOR BOOKS I SHOULD PUT ON MY KINDLE FOR MY WEEK AT THE BEACH! NOTHING DEPRESSING OR THAT REQUIRES REAL EFFORT TO READ, HOBVIOUSLY.
SINCE YOU'LL BE IN THE AREA, THE LABOR DAY HURRICANE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LOCAL HISTORY TOPICS.
SINCE YOU'LL BE IN THE AREA, THE LABOR DAY HURRICANE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LOCAL HISTORY TOPICS.
December 10, 2019
I grew up in South Florida. Trips to "The Keys” were a joy. I remember fishing from the old 7-mile highway bridge, built on the original railroad bridge after the hurricane destroyed the railroad. I also went through several hurricanes. But even then, the Hurricane of 1935 was seen as cataclysmic. I sought to read first-hand details about that event. But envisioning it was a horror.
Storm Features at Landfall
• The storm surge reached 19 feet. (The sea level at the Upper and Middle Keys was 5-7 feet.)
• Sustained winds were 185 mph.
• With a barometric pressure of 892 millibars (26.34 inches), even today this storm remains the most intense U.S. landfalling Atlantic hurricane.
In Storm of the Century, author Willie Drye does an excellent job of recreating the background that led the veterans to the keys, the hurricane’s landfall with its tragic losses, and the aftermath of investigations and whitewashes. This period covered about four years. Drye concludes with a “where are they now” retrospective and a recent update on the area’s storm history.
The author’s thorough research leaves the reader well-informed. To provide first-hand details, Drye examined past newspapers and periodicals, and visited local libraries and archivists. He also interviewed survivors and relatives of those in the storm. His material is generously annotated at the book’s end, although not indexed within the text.
The Story
The book’s early stages focused on the Depression era “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who demonstrated for an advance on their bonus payment for wartime service. These desperate individuals converged on Washington D.C. and erected a tent city. Their encampments became an embarrassment to the administration (Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s). A veterans work program in the Florida Keys could extract the demonstrators from Washington. So, the veterans were sent to the Keys to work on an “overseas highway,” a project they would never finish.
The Florida Keys in the 1930s were nothing like today. Facilities, transportation, and communications were primitive even by standards then. The main mode for remote travel was by train to Key West or South Florida via an overseas rail line. No connecting highway existed. The native population was sparse: probably under 1,000 outside of Key West. The storm’s target was Islamorada, a strip of land 20 miles long and, at its broadest point, no more than one mile wide.
In 1935, hurricane forecasters lacked weather satellites, hurricane reconnaissance aircraft, and technological equipment. Position reports originated from passing ships. A barometer could detect an approaching storm, but could not accurately predict its intensity or direction.
Additionally, administrators without hands-on experience were unlikely to be savvy about the tasks and durations needed for hurricane preparation and evacuation. These shortcomings would be exposed during this worst-case storm that changed its direction and rapidly intensified close to shore.
Worst off were the vets. Their camps were shoddily built and dangerously located. Lack of advance planning and bureaucratic inertia delayed their evacuation until it was too late. Over 400 people died; more than half, vets.
Storm Features at Landfall
• The storm surge reached 19 feet. (The sea level at the Upper and Middle Keys was 5-7 feet.)
• Sustained winds were 185 mph.
• With a barometric pressure of 892 millibars (26.34 inches), even today this storm remains the most intense U.S. landfalling Atlantic hurricane.
In Storm of the Century, author Willie Drye does an excellent job of recreating the background that led the veterans to the keys, the hurricane’s landfall with its tragic losses, and the aftermath of investigations and whitewashes. This period covered about four years. Drye concludes with a “where are they now” retrospective and a recent update on the area’s storm history.
The author’s thorough research leaves the reader well-informed. To provide first-hand details, Drye examined past newspapers and periodicals, and visited local libraries and archivists. He also interviewed survivors and relatives of those in the storm. His material is generously annotated at the book’s end, although not indexed within the text.
The Story
The book’s early stages focused on the Depression era “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who demonstrated for an advance on their bonus payment for wartime service. These desperate individuals converged on Washington D.C. and erected a tent city. Their encampments became an embarrassment to the administration (Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s). A veterans work program in the Florida Keys could extract the demonstrators from Washington. So, the veterans were sent to the Keys to work on an “overseas highway,” a project they would never finish.
The Florida Keys in the 1930s were nothing like today. Facilities, transportation, and communications were primitive even by standards then. The main mode for remote travel was by train to Key West or South Florida via an overseas rail line. No connecting highway existed. The native population was sparse: probably under 1,000 outside of Key West. The storm’s target was Islamorada, a strip of land 20 miles long and, at its broadest point, no more than one mile wide.
In 1935, hurricane forecasters lacked weather satellites, hurricane reconnaissance aircraft, and technological equipment. Position reports originated from passing ships. A barometer could detect an approaching storm, but could not accurately predict its intensity or direction.
Additionally, administrators without hands-on experience were unlikely to be savvy about the tasks and durations needed for hurricane preparation and evacuation. These shortcomings would be exposed during this worst-case storm that changed its direction and rapidly intensified close to shore.
Worst off were the vets. Their camps were shoddily built and dangerously located. Lack of advance planning and bureaucratic inertia delayed their evacuation until it was too late. Over 400 people died; more than half, vets.
October 8, 2020
I don't know from hurricanes. Blizzards...sure. Earthquakes...yeah, we get the odd one. Volcanoes...well I live in a lava field, not that we've had one recently. But hurricanes are something that happen on the other side of the continent. But I was intrigued by this book and I wasn't disappointed.
The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (this was before they were named) was probably the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. It's the one that they mention in the movie Key Largo. It had maximum sustained winds at landfall of 185 mph and barometric pressure of 26.34 inches of mercury. I didn't know what that last one meant until I read the book, but apparently that's lower pressure than most barometers at the time were able to measure. It was, by any measure, a monster storm.
But beyond its severity, it hit the Florida Keys at a politically sensitive time. The 1936 political campaign was in the offing. And on Labor Day of 1935 there were hundreds of World War I veterans in the Keys that had been sent there by the Roosevelt administration to work on the Overseas Highway under the direction of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. 695 veterans, most of whom had been members of the Bonus Army, were in three work-camps in the lowlands of the Florida Keys. The camps were not well constructed, were not well placed and while there was somewhat of a plan for evacuation in case of a hurricane, it was not well thought out and it was, ultimately, not implemented...or at least not on time.
Drye does a good job of giving us the background leading up to the hurricane, both the political situation with the Bonus Army and the new Administration and the background on the Keys and hurricanes there. The story of the hurricane itself is well told and it's told in a manner that allows for someone with very little knowledge of these types of weather patterns to understand what was going down. It would be easy for Drye to point fingers at the FERA officials for the scope of the disaster that lead to the death of 251 of the veteran workers and to an extent he does. But he also makes it clear that there were several breakdowns in the management of the veterans and the camps and that there were certainly people within the FERA and associated agencies who had been urging better planning and a much earlier evacuation than was attempted. Drye also does a good job of showing that even the Conchs (natives of the Keys) were taken surprise by the intensity and power of the storm and there were significant civilian
I think that if there's one knock on the book it's that there's a large cast of characters and they tend to run together. I'm not entirely sure what Drye could have done to differentiate them, but at the very least a list of the "cast of characters" with a describer of who they are would have been helpful. But that's really the only nit I have to pick in a very enjoyable book.
My thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for a preview copy in exchange for my reviews.
The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (this was before they were named) was probably the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. It's the one that they mention in the movie Key Largo. It had maximum sustained winds at landfall of 185 mph and barometric pressure of 26.34 inches of mercury. I didn't know what that last one meant until I read the book, but apparently that's lower pressure than most barometers at the time were able to measure. It was, by any measure, a monster storm.
But beyond its severity, it hit the Florida Keys at a politically sensitive time. The 1936 political campaign was in the offing. And on Labor Day of 1935 there were hundreds of World War I veterans in the Keys that had been sent there by the Roosevelt administration to work on the Overseas Highway under the direction of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. 695 veterans, most of whom had been members of the Bonus Army, were in three work-camps in the lowlands of the Florida Keys. The camps were not well constructed, were not well placed and while there was somewhat of a plan for evacuation in case of a hurricane, it was not well thought out and it was, ultimately, not implemented...or at least not on time.
Drye does a good job of giving us the background leading up to the hurricane, both the political situation with the Bonus Army and the new Administration and the background on the Keys and hurricanes there. The story of the hurricane itself is well told and it's told in a manner that allows for someone with very little knowledge of these types of weather patterns to understand what was going down. It would be easy for Drye to point fingers at the FERA officials for the scope of the disaster that lead to the death of 251 of the veteran workers and to an extent he does. But he also makes it clear that there were several breakdowns in the management of the veterans and the camps and that there were certainly people within the FERA and associated agencies who had been urging better planning and a much earlier evacuation than was attempted. Drye also does a good job of showing that even the Conchs (natives of the Keys) were taken surprise by the intensity and power of the storm and there were significant civilian
I think that if there's one knock on the book it's that there's a large cast of characters and they tend to run together. I'm not entirely sure what Drye could have done to differentiate them, but at the very least a list of the "cast of characters" with a describer of who they are would have been helpful. But that's really the only nit I have to pick in a very enjoyable book.
My thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for a preview copy in exchange for my reviews.
October 6, 2020
My opinion of this story may be biased since I live on the coast and have lived through hurricanes, including Hurricane Alicia, and more recently, Hurricane Ike and Harvey. But, as someone who was born in Galveston, Texas, and who still lives on the Texas gulf coast, I enjoy picking up a book about hurricanes that have hit the coastlines all around America. The hardest part of reading books about devastating events is reading about the aftermath and learning how many people lost their lives. This book was WOW! An eye-opener to the devastation mother nature can bring.
While reading, I felt as though I was in the story, fighting the storm, trying to get out of my coastal home. Attempting to make my way further inland or to the train that so many felt would provide shelter and take them to their haven. The energy this storm brought to the Keys was like no other I have read before. The wind speeds this hurricane produced were terrifying. I pray every summer that Galveston never has to go through something so deadly.
Storm of the Century is a well-researched book that sucks you in with vivid images; it's tragic, powerful, and very well written. The one thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars was keeping up with all the different characters and the multiple storylines taking place at once.
As I was reading about the men on the shore fighting to get out of the storm, or rushing to save their families, the next paragraph would jump to the Dixie cruise ship and go right into the disasters they were facing. I had to take a minute to change direction in my head, remember their situation, and their most recent position. Then the story went back to the men at the shore.
If I had a list of persons before reading, I might have kept up with the changes as quickly as they came. Either way, this book is going on my shelf of favorites in nonfiction. Willie Drye, thank you for your research and story. NetGalley, thank you for providing me with a copy of this novel to read. This story stays with you long after you've finished reading.
While reading, I felt as though I was in the story, fighting the storm, trying to get out of my coastal home. Attempting to make my way further inland or to the train that so many felt would provide shelter and take them to their haven. The energy this storm brought to the Keys was like no other I have read before. The wind speeds this hurricane produced were terrifying. I pray every summer that Galveston never has to go through something so deadly.
Storm of the Century is a well-researched book that sucks you in with vivid images; it's tragic, powerful, and very well written. The one thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars was keeping up with all the different characters and the multiple storylines taking place at once.
As I was reading about the men on the shore fighting to get out of the storm, or rushing to save their families, the next paragraph would jump to the Dixie cruise ship and go right into the disasters they were facing. I had to take a minute to change direction in my head, remember their situation, and their most recent position. Then the story went back to the men at the shore.
If I had a list of persons before reading, I might have kept up with the changes as quickly as they came. Either way, this book is going on my shelf of favorites in nonfiction. Willie Drye, thank you for your research and story. NetGalley, thank you for providing me with a copy of this novel to read. This story stays with you long after you've finished reading.
June 26, 2024
A book about history and a storm that I had never heard or read about before. The story begins during the Depression and includes close to 400 World War veterans who are out of work and are sent to the Florida Keys for a work relief program, one of many by the Roosevelt administration. You get a look at the before the storm comes through and then the aftermath. They looked into the investigations that I thought were a farce and how some blamed the Veterans themselves as being less than people. Remember some of these men could have been the same ones that marched on Wahington and camped because they were promised benefits for fighting in World War One but were denied. Also, most people don’t know or remember that Roosevelt campaigned to help the Veterans and once in office went back on that promise. Once again the Vets were secured and have continued to have been regardless of who is in office, should be noted my grandfather fought in WWI and my father fought in WWII and Korea. Overall a good book.
November 1, 2022
I picked up this book at the Hemingway museum in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
They might not have had the technology we have today that tracks storms weeks in advance but the barometric pressure readings were evidence it was coming. Several people took the reports for granted and many lives were lost, including the veterans down on the keys doing infrastructure work.
The book goes into detail the political investigations and the partisanship that ultimately fails to hold those accountable. It highlights the fact that nothing has changed with regards to our investigative committees.
An extremely well written book that I will pass on.
They might not have had the technology we have today that tracks storms weeks in advance but the barometric pressure readings were evidence it was coming. Several people took the reports for granted and many lives were lost, including the veterans down on the keys doing infrastructure work.
The book goes into detail the political investigations and the partisanship that ultimately fails to hold those accountable. It highlights the fact that nothing has changed with regards to our investigative committees.
An extremely well written book that I will pass on.
November 29, 2020
I really enjoyed this book it was one of the best books about hurricanes that I have read. I did feel that after the hurricane the author took too much time explaining the congressional investigations that followed with really no outcome other than to say that the government swept it under the rug but I felt that there were some corollaries between the 1935 hurricane and Katrina. I also love the focus on the keys recovery after the hurricane and the impacts That hurricane still have on the keys in Florida today.
December 6, 2021
This account of the most intense storm to hit the US was well researched. The author made quick switches between scenes and stories that kept the pace flowing, but were jarring at times and sent me back to figure out where we were and who we were talking about. This hurricane devastated the Florida Keys and killed hundreds of people. The politics between the media, the various government agencies involved, and the veterans affected (mostly former "Bonus Marchers" was exhaustively examined. I felt like that part could have been told more succinctly.
September 12, 2020
Holy cannoli! This actually happened and during war time. This shocked me to the core in some parts, but this was also before more accurate forecasting for hurricanes and other weather. These men really suffered and I felt like I was there with them through all the horror. Highly recommended if you like weather related events that are a part of history.
Thanks to Netgalley, Willie Drye and Lyons Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Already available: 8/1/19
Thanks to Netgalley, Willie Drye and Lyons Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Already available: 8/1/19
October 20, 2019
This is the tragic story of how two ignorant men indirectly caused the deaths of over 400 people including over 300 veterans from WWI. Then politics created a massive coverup so that none of the guilty were ever officially even blamed, much less charged. It also gives a sobering account of the true power of these storms from the ground level.
April 2, 2021
Storm of the Century was very hard to put down. I never knew WWI vet's were used to build structures down in the keys. It's horrible how they were treated. The author helps walk us through why they were sent there to the lost of most of them from the storm. I won't help but think of them next time I'm down in the key west.
October 28, 2019
Excellent historical depiction of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, that devastated the Florida Keys, but written in the style of a good suspense novel. A real page-turner... was hard to put it down once I started reading it.
September 14, 2020
I got this as a e book for my i pad from net galley. I enjoyed reading it. It is a book about a storm that happened in the us. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.
April 5, 2023
This was a very interesting book about the labor day hurricane of 1935 that killed several hundred people especially vets hired to work down there, and the coverup that was done to hide neglect by government officials.
June 13, 2019
Well written account of the events leading up to the hurricane and the effects of bureaucracy's decisions on the people in the path of destruction.
March 9, 2020
Detailed and accurate account based on the same data seen in the Museum of History in Islamorada.
May 31, 2020
p. 296 - "One day, unfortunately, that debt will come due."
Want to read
May 29, 2022Dewey 975.94106
January 2, 2023
Good report on one of the Keys' saddest events - weather, environment, politics... everything coming together to make for a heart-breaking disaster.
December 1, 2023
Very well researched novel and told with many personal stories that keep the reader hooked. Reads like a thriller novel in many parts and covers the story from many different view points .
September 26, 2025
I'm a weather nerd but struggled to not DNF this one. VERY factual - it felt like I was reading a textbook. It took me several weeks to finish.
November 29, 2025
Excellent read! Written as if you were right there with everyone involved!
December 2, 2014
Excellent, comprehensive and informative documentary treatment of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, one of just three Category 5 storms to make landfall in the US to date, since such records have been kept. Along with great weather data made accessible to the lay reader, this book also reveals the story of the "Conchs," Key West's inhabitants and fishermen's families who knew something bad was coming; and of course, the terrible tragedy that struck the camps full of WWI veterans who had been shipped to the Florida Keys ostensibly to build a railroad bridge, but more likely as an expedient way to get them out of the public eye after having been routed from huge camps in front of Washington's Capitol complex at gunpoint.
There is a tradeoff for the thoroughness, though. The last few chapters in which the author describes the tremendous outcry about the needless deaths of the veterans and everyone trying to place blame for the tragedy really start to drag not too far into the narrative. I'm not sure this could be helped, as it's necessarily full of the kind of political and social minutiae it takes to describe such a backlash. But after the breathless run-up to the storm, the action during and immediately following the hurricane, and the descriptions of the storm itself, what normally would be a simple let-down turns into something of a slog for the reader.
Still, it's largely an engaging read and an excellent piece of research and journalism. I think Drye does a great job of putting the whole tragedy into its disturbing context, painting a realistic picture of the desperation and grimness of the times in which it happened. It gives so much more meaning to what otherwise could have been just another disaster story. He also reveals the longterm social and political consequences of the event, allowing the modern reader to understand how some current legislation and attitudes may have gotten their start.
There is a tradeoff for the thoroughness, though. The last few chapters in which the author describes the tremendous outcry about the needless deaths of the veterans and everyone trying to place blame for the tragedy really start to drag not too far into the narrative. I'm not sure this could be helped, as it's necessarily full of the kind of political and social minutiae it takes to describe such a backlash. But after the breathless run-up to the storm, the action during and immediately following the hurricane, and the descriptions of the storm itself, what normally would be a simple let-down turns into something of a slog for the reader.
Still, it's largely an engaging read and an excellent piece of research and journalism. I think Drye does a great job of putting the whole tragedy into its disturbing context, painting a realistic picture of the desperation and grimness of the times in which it happened. It gives so much more meaning to what otherwise could have been just another disaster story. He also reveals the longterm social and political consequences of the event, allowing the modern reader to understand how some current legislation and attitudes may have gotten their start.
April 6, 2014
This is an excellent account of the most powerful hurricane to have hit the United States. This was one monster storm, awing even the long-time FL residents who had lived through previous bad storms. The author does a nice job of setting the scene by introducing the characters and recounting what they did to prepare for the storm.
The description of the storm itself and its aftermath are especially vivid and riveting. We're talking wind speeds around 150 to 200 mph, strong enough to lift grown men and send them flying. Hundreds died.
What made the death toll worse was the presence of WW1 veterans who had been sent to FL by the FDR administration to help build a highway along the full length of the Keys. These vets had been camped out in D.C. since the Hoover presidency, protesting in favor of a bill to speed up a payment due to all WWW1 vets. FDR just wanted them gone, without making it look like he just wanted them gone. Florida needed workers for their highway, so that was that. Give them a job and steady pay, and far, far away from DC. Problem solved.
Except that their work camps, where they lived, were awful and totally inadequate to weather such a storm. On top of that, the camp admins were lax in preparing any sort of serious evacuation plan. As a result, these vets were left wholly to themselves, with lousy shelter, during a Category 5 hurricane.
The end of the book talks about the fallout from the storm. It covers the survivors trying to get their lives back together, and the political ramifications with the veterans. There were investigations, only two of which were of any use, and a congressional hearing chaired by a powerful Democrat whose primary goal was whitewashing the whole affair to avoid FDR receiving any blame and thus risking his reelection. Pretty pathetic, actually.
All in all, a great book.
The description of the storm itself and its aftermath are especially vivid and riveting. We're talking wind speeds around 150 to 200 mph, strong enough to lift grown men and send them flying. Hundreds died.
What made the death toll worse was the presence of WW1 veterans who had been sent to FL by the FDR administration to help build a highway along the full length of the Keys. These vets had been camped out in D.C. since the Hoover presidency, protesting in favor of a bill to speed up a payment due to all WWW1 vets. FDR just wanted them gone, without making it look like he just wanted them gone. Florida needed workers for their highway, so that was that. Give them a job and steady pay, and far, far away from DC. Problem solved.
Except that their work camps, where they lived, were awful and totally inadequate to weather such a storm. On top of that, the camp admins were lax in preparing any sort of serious evacuation plan. As a result, these vets were left wholly to themselves, with lousy shelter, during a Category 5 hurricane.
The end of the book talks about the fallout from the storm. It covers the survivors trying to get their lives back together, and the political ramifications with the veterans. There were investigations, only two of which were of any use, and a congressional hearing chaired by a powerful Democrat whose primary goal was whitewashing the whole affair to avoid FDR receiving any blame and thus risking his reelection. Pretty pathetic, actually.
All in all, a great book.
May 16, 2015
When In Doubt, Get Out!
Mother Nature and Human Nature ARE Unpredictable, waiting could very easily make for a very bad outcome.
Then, there's Murphy's Law:"If something can go wrong, it will.” An addition to this law reads, “and usually at the worst time.”
And then, there's the finger-pointing, second-guessing, scapegoating and cover-up!
WHAT a tragedy! Unfortunately, despite all our technological advances, we're not much better off at understanding the phenomenon of "bombing out" today then we were in 1935 --- so, we very likely could be so much worse than it was then!
Ere on the side of caution!
Willie reflects the growing turbulence of the storm with the whirlwind, Helter-Skelter bits-n-pieces of the story told from the various persons caught up in its grips and from the various perspectives -- masterfully done.
Read and heed!
P.S: we've experienced so many of the POI across the Keys.
Mother Nature and Human Nature ARE Unpredictable, waiting could very easily make for a very bad outcome.
Then, there's Murphy's Law:"If something can go wrong, it will.” An addition to this law reads, “and usually at the worst time.”
And then, there's the finger-pointing, second-guessing, scapegoating and cover-up!
WHAT a tragedy! Unfortunately, despite all our technological advances, we're not much better off at understanding the phenomenon of "bombing out" today then we were in 1935 --- so, we very likely could be so much worse than it was then!
Ere on the side of caution!
Willie reflects the growing turbulence of the storm with the whirlwind, Helter-Skelter bits-n-pieces of the story told from the various persons caught up in its grips and from the various perspectives -- masterfully done.
Read and heed!
P.S: we've experienced so many of the POI across the Keys.
December 2, 2018
AMAZING!!! I am a big fan of hurricane books. This is in my top 2. This was a tragic and powerful event in Florida history. I am a Florida native and have been to the Keys many times. I also have been through the eye of 4 hurricanes in my life. (Andrew, Francis, Jean, Wilma) I can only imagine what a Category 5 hurricane would do to the Keys, but this book covers it perfectly and makes one heck of an amazing book. The tragedy, politics and intense storm set the stage for a story that reads like a Oscar winning movie. This is a great book. I've read it twice.... so far.
April 12, 2011
This book details the category 5 hurricane that took a devastating toll on the Florida Keys in 1935. Being a frequent visitor to the Keys, I was able to identify with many of the places in the storm's path and once again realize what a fragile chain of islands make up that area. All in all, it is a compelling read.
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