The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928 was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin. It was the fourth tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and only major hurricane of the year’s hurricane season. The hurricane killed an estimated 2,500 people in the United States; most of the fatalities occurred in the state of Florida. It remains the only tropicalcyclone on record to strike the island of Puerto Rico at Category 5 intensity.
About 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in brief
The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928 was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin. It was the fourth tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and only major hurricane of the year’s hurricane season. The hurricane killed an estimated 2,500 people in the United States; most of the fatalities occurred in the state of Florida. The storm caused USD 100 million in damage and killed at least 4,112 people. It remains the only tropicalcyclone on record to strike the island of Puerto Rico at Category 5 intensity. The system weakened significantly while crossing Florida, falling to Category 1 intensity late on September 17. It curved north-northeast and briefly emerged into the Atlantic on September 18, but soon made another landfall near Edisto Island, South Carolina, with winds of 85 mph. Early on the following day, the system weakened to a tropical storm and became an extratropical cyclone over North Carolina hours later. It is the third deadliest hurricane in the U.S., only behind the 1900 Galveston hurricane and Hurricane Maria. On September 6, ships reported a tropical depression developing just off the west coast of Africa near Dakar, Senegal. On the next day, a ship reported winds of 60 mph, or tropical storm status; on this basis, the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project estimated that the system attained Category 1 hurricane status late on Sept 6. On September 10, the S. S. Commack first observed the storm about 900 mi to the east of Guadeloupe, which at the time was the most easterly report of a tropical Cyclone ever received through ship’s radio.
Later that day, two other ships confirmed the intensity of the storm, and the Hurricane Research Division estimated it strengthened into a hurricane at 18: 00 UTC on September 10. As the storm neared the Lesser Antilles, it continued to intensify. Between 18: 30 and 30:30 on September 12, the eye of the hurricane moved over Guadelupe with sustained winds of 140mph, suggesting a maximum sustained pressure of 937 mbarometric pressure. Continuing to the west-northwest, the hurricane passed about 10 mi south of Saint Croix before approaching Puerto Rico before exiting between Aguadilla and Isabela in eight hours. About six hours later, the storm’s eye crossed between the southern coast of Aguaya and Aguayama, moving ashore near Puerto Rico in eight to eight hours from southeast to northwest. It then weakened to Category 4 intensity before striking Puerto Rico; 24,728 homes were destroyed and 192,444 were damaged throughout the island, leaving over 500,000 people homeless. On Puerto Rico alone, there were 312 deaths and about US$50 million in damage. It weakened slightly, fell to Category 3 intensity before emerging into theAtlantic Ocean on September 16, where it began crossing through the Bahamas. It continued crossing the Bahamas on September 15, and made landfall near West Palm Beach, Florida, early on September 19.
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