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| Aftermath of 1926 hurricane in Miami State Archives of Florida |
By Jane Feehan
One of
the most devastating storms to hit South Florida was the hurricane of September 17, 1926.
Shoddy construction and an unprepared public was faulted for much of the damage. The hurricane's destruction ushered in the Great Depression before it affected other states three or four years later.
Recovering
from a hurricane was very different before the Federal Emergency Management
Agency was established in 1979. An
examination of newspapers reporting on the storm’s aftermath reveals just how
different.
The New
York Times (Sept. 24, 1926) reported “conscription of all unemployed
persons” was underway to help with “rehabilitating” South Florida. Miami
put out a call for 25,000 workers; Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale indicated they
would employ 2,000 each in the cleanup. Several hundred members of the American
Legion assisted “militiamen” and police in patrolling streets and highways to
“apprehend” those who could not show they were employed. The objective: to put
them to work clearing streets of debris left by the hurricane.
There
was much to do, more than those conscripted could accomplish.
Scores
of private vehicles were “commandeered” by authorities in the recovery process.
The city of Miami delivered water and other supplies by tug boat across
Biscayne Bay to Miami Beach. Hotels became makeshift hospitals.
Contrary to
reports in the North, many commercial buildings remained standing, especially those of
stucco construction, but most residents lived in poorly-built houses that were destroyed. For those
who lost their homes, five tent cities were set up in South Florida: one in West
Palm Beach, two in Fort Lauderdale, one in Hollywood, one in Hialeah. More help
was soon on the way.
Trains
from Jacksonville brought doctors, nurses and medical supplies. Until they
could get medical assistance, residents were urged to bathe in the ocean to
prevent infection of minor cuts. Salt water, officials advised, bore antiseptic
qualities. Medicinal alcohol was unavailable.
One local doctor, it was
reported, rowed to the tiny 300-resident village of Davie, west of Fort
Lauderdale, to assist the injured. He said demand for “medicine liquor” caused warehouses in Miami to be emptied for the first time since that city became a
bootlegging distribution point. The good doctor was later criticized for
drunkenness while tending to his storm-affected patients.
Disease spread. Typhoid
cases were reported in Miami Beach and Hollywood. In days, a flotilla of navy
vessels arrived from Charleston bearing anti-typhoid vaccine.
Assistance varied. The Florida East Coast Railway offered free rides from South Florida to Jacksonville to “worthy applicants.” Communications were nearly non-existent the first few days after
the storm so cables went via Havana, Cuba. Restaurants in Miami served free meals to storm survivors. Ships delivered donated food. At one point,
so much relief was delivered to South Florida that supplies were turned away.
Days
after the storm, President Calvin Coolidge asked citizens of the U.S. to
contribute to the American Red Cross, calling the hurricane's aftermath and its
recovery “overwhelming.” Within hours, $500,000 was collected; days later, more
than $3 million filled the coffers. The Associated Press donated more
than $200,000. The Chicago Examiner launched its own fundraising
campaign. The Miami News donated $1000.
Coolidge tapped Henry
M. Baker as the national director of disaster relief for the American Red
Cross; the organization managed and distributed all contributions.
On Oct.
14, 1926, the Miami News reported 75 percent of families in need
received some form of aid through the American Red Cross. Nearly 15,000 people
out of an estimated 20,000 received assistance that included supplies, food,
lodging, seed, fertilizer, and burial payments. None of the aid “constituted
permanent rehabilitation.”
Relief, not complete rebuilding, was provided to individuals; that has not changed even
with FEMA. Federal disaster assistance does not make people whole again. Something else remains the same: Americans coming to the aid of those in need.
Copyright Jane Feehan
NOTE: FEMA organizes response and recovery; though the agency may pay for cleanup, it does not perform cleanup activities.
Sources:
Miami News, Sept. 19, 1926
Miami News, Sept. 20, 1926
New York Times, Sept. 24, 1926
New York Times, Oct. 3, 1926
Miami News, Oct 14. 1926
Tags: Hurricane history, Fort Lauderdale history, Miami history, American Red Cross history, FEMA, historical researcher, film researcher.