
Storm of the Century
The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
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Narrated by:
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Jason Culp
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By:
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Willie Drye
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 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. It includes stories of some of the heroes of the Labor Day 1935 calamity.
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Better than I expected
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One thing that I found interesting was how the writer, in telling about the hurricane, would often write something like, ""The hotel just blew off the foundation like a paper bag,' said Smith." In a situation like this, you must assume that Smith made the statement at some later time that is not specified. Of course, the alternative would be to constantly say things like, "...said Smith a year later during the Congressional investigation" or "...said Smith in a letter he wrote to his sister while recovering in a hospital after the hurricane." I think the writer's choice here in how he handles quotes is reasonable and helps to streamline the story, but some historians might take issue with this approach.
I felt the reading was clear and expertly done, complete with credible voices for many of the characters.
Solid history. Sometimes too much detail.
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The book is written with enough detail, with good explanations, that it was easy to follow. I recommend this book.
Labor Day 1935
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Wow!
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