Evening Star
- Relief trains arrive; refugees fill roads; storm hits Pensacola
- 56 bodies found near dike break
- Public asked to contribute to Red Cross relief
As communications fail in the hurricane zone, correspondents circulate sharply rising loss estimates while rescuers distinguish recovered bodies from missing residents near Lake Okeechobee. The page connects this uncertain field reporting to a national response: Coolidge offers executive assistance and asks Americans to send donations through the Red Cross. Its selected accounts describe both urgent material needs and the limits of the information reaching Washington.
Translation
Relief trains arrive; refugees fill roads; storm hits Pensacola
Ever-mounting estimates of property damage and death toll emanated today from the hurricane-lashed east coast of Florida.
Property loss above the $200,000,000 mark was fixed by newspaper men after an inspection of the Miami district, and the number of dead was estimated to range from 600 to 1,300 in the Miami area and 200 at Moorehaven, 75 miles northwest of Miami.
The West Indian hurricane continued its furious sweep up the Gulf of Mexico, and at 11 o’clock this morning was reported to be hammering at Pensacola. That city was isolated from outside communication. Before the lines of communication were severed the wind was reported to have attained a 100-mile velocity.
56 bodies found near dike break
With 56 bodies in an improvised morgue here today and the missing totaling nearly 200, rescue workers in Moore Haven were bending every effort to remove all persons from the flooded area. Nearly 500 refugees arrived last night. Officials who returned here this morning said the water was receding and that the collection of the dead would be resumed immediately.
According to one eyewitness the dike along Lake Okeechobee broke at 8 o’clock Saturday morning and the water poured over the land until it stood 12 to 14 feet deep in the highest spot in Moore Haven. In the lowland it was over the roofs of houses. Few expected the break, as the dike was supposed to be invulnerable.
Public asked to contribute to Red Cross relief
Offering the resources of the National Government to aid the storm-stricken areas of Florida, President Coolidge today addressed a personal appeal to the people of the United States to come to the assistance of the storm’s victims.
The message was addressed “to the people of the United States” and, although not a proclamation, declared that help is urgently necessary.
“An Overwhelming Disaster.”
The appeal follows:
“To the People of the United States:
“An overwhelming disaster has come to the people of Miami, Hollywood and surrounding communities in southern Florida. Such assistance as is within the means of the executive department of the Government will be rendered, but realizing the great suffering which now needs relief and will need relief for days to come, I am prompted to appeal urgently to the American people, whose sympathies have always been so comprehensive, to contribute generously in aiding the sufferers.
“That the utmost coordination and effectiveness in the administration of the relief fund may be obtained, I urge that all contributions for this purpose be sent to the American National Red Cross at Washington or to the local Red Cross chapters. I need not assure the people that the Red Cross will utilize in the most effective manner all contributions received for relief in this catastrophe.
“CALVIN COOLIDGE.”
Context
A disaster moving across Florida
The hurricane struck Miami on September 18, crossed southern Florida and then travelled through the Gulf of Mexico. Its next Florida landfall came near Pensacola on September 20. The newspaper therefore catches an emergency spreading to another coast while the first devastated communities were still seeking help. The failure of communications at Pensacola compounded the difficulty of allocating aid: a new threatened area was disappearing from contact just as reports from Miami were arriving.
Why a lake could threaten an entire town
Moore Haven’s catastrophe was a flood from Lake Okeechobee, rather than simply wind damage to buildings. The original lakeside embankments had been built locally from sand and muck around 1915. The Corps of Engineers’ history records that hurricane-driven water overtopped those early defences in 1926 and again in 1928. This helps explain the scale of the danger described by the eyewitness: once the barrier failed, a broad body of lake water could enter the inhabited lowland.
Evacuation after confidence in the dike collapsed
The flood report ends with a striking explanation for the lack of preparation: people had thought the dike could not fail. By the time the article was written, the priority was to remove everyone from the flooded area, while falling water made the recovery of bodies possible. Evacuation and recovery were proceeding together. The passage shows how an assumed protection can shape people’s expectations, and how quickly rescue priorities change when that protection is lost.
Why the first death estimates were so high
The early figures were assembled while towns were cut off and many residents remained missing. They belong to the first attempt to grasp the disaster’s extent. On October 9 the Red Cross reported 372 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to the National Weather Service’s history. That later total was much lower than the newspaper’s initial estimates. The gap illustrates the difficulty of identifying victims and survivors before communications and local reporting networks had recovered.
Why Coolidge directed donations to the Red Cross
Coolidge’s appeal joined two kinds of assistance: resources available to the federal executive and donations from the public. He asked donors to use the national Red Cross or its local chapters so that relief funds could be coordinated. The central issue was how to turn sympathy across a large country into organized help for particular communities. A shared collection channel could connect local generosity to a wider relief effort, rather than leaving each donor to decide independently where money should go.
From local embankments to federal flood protection
The disaster of 1926 was followed by another catastrophic lake flood in 1928. In 1930 Congress authorized new levees along the lake’s north and south shores, and the Corps built them during 1932–38. These works formed part of the longer development of the Herbert Hoover Dike. The newspaper describes the earlier system at the moment of failure; the subsequent construction shows how repeated disasters turned lake protection into a larger federal engineering undertaking.
Original
RELIEF TRAINS ARRIVE; REFUGEES FILL ROADS; STORM HITS PENSACOLA
Kver mounting' estimates of property damage and death toll
emanated today from the hurricane-lashed east coast of Florida.
property loss above the $200,000,000 mark was fixed by
newspaper men after an inspection of the Miami district, and the
number of dead was estimated to range from 600 to 1,300 in the
Miami area and 200 at Moorehaven. 75 miles northwest of Miami.
The West Indian hurricane continued its furious sweep up
the Ciulf of Mexico, and at 11 o’clock this morning was reported
to be hammering at Pensacola. That city was isolated from out
side communication. Before the lines of communication were
severed the wind was reported to have attained a 100-mile ve
locity.
56 BODIES FOUND NEAR DIKE BREAK
With 56 bodies in an improvised
morgue here today and the missing
totaling nearly 200, rescue workers in
Moore Haven were bending every ef
fort to remove all persons from the
flooded area. Nearly 500 refugees ar
rived last night. Officials who returned
here this morning said the water was
receding and that the collection of the
dead would he resumed immediately.
According to one eyewitness the
dike along Lake Okeechobee broke at
8 o’clock Saturday morning and the
water poured over the land until it
stood 12 to 14 feet deep in the highest
spot in Moore Haven. In the lowland
it was over the roofs of houses. Few
expected the break, as the dike was
supposed to be invulnerable.
Public Asked to Make Con tributions to Red Cross for Relief Work.
Offering the resources of the Na
tional Government to aid the storm
stricken areas of Florida, President
Coolidge today addressed a personal
appeal to the people of the United
States to come to the assistance of
the storm’s victims.
The message was addressed “to the
people of the United States’’ and, al
though not a proclamation, declared
that help is urgently necessary.
“An Overwhelming Disaster."
The appeal follows:
“To the People of the United States:
"An overwhelming disaster has
come to the people of Miami, Holly
wood and surrounding communities
in southern Florida. Such assistance
as is within the means of the execu-
I tive department of the Government
will be rendered, but ralizing the
great suffering which now needs re
lief and will need relief for days to
come, I am prompted to appeal
urgently to the American people,
whose sympathies have always been
so comprehensive, to contribute gener
ously in aiding the sufferers.
"That the utmost co-ordination and
effectiveness in the administration of
the relief fund may bo obtained, I
urge that all contributions for this
purpose be sent to the American Na
tional Red Cross at Washington or
to the local Red Cross chapters. I
need not assure the people that the
Red Cross will utilize in the most
effective manner all contributions re
ceived for relief in this catastrophe.
"CALVIN COOLIDGE.”
Source: Holding institution