As the newspapers reported itThe Great Miami Hurricane of 1926
10 days of original coverage, September 18, 1926 to October 1, 1926, one clipping a day from the papers of 1926. Newest last, the way readers lived it.
ContextA hurricane that crossed the Bahamas late yesterday was centered near Miami this morning, and the Weather Bureau in Washington has had no word from the city since last night; at Palm Beach a telephone caller reported wind too strong for a man to stand against. Warnings are up along the Gulf coast as far west as Mobile.
As printed: Desolation Spread Over Large Area, Turning "Playground" Into Wilderness
ContextThe hurricane that struck southeast Florida late Friday night raged for some nine hours across Miami, Miami Beach and the coast to the north, and the first full accounting is only now coming out over restored wires. Miami had been the boom town of the decade, its beaches and hotels sold as the "playground of America."
As printed: HURRICANE RAPIDLY DIMINISHES IN FURY AS WENDS ITS WAY INLAND
ContextThe hurricane that tore across Miami and Miami Beach late Friday night has crossed the peninsula and passed Mobile, weakening as it turns west over southern Alabama and Mississippi. First totals put the known dead at 375 and the injured near 4,000, with a pilot flying over the Everglades reporting the settlements along the streams leveled.
As printed: Southern Florida Losses Estimated High as $200,000,000
ContextThe hurricane that struck Miami and Miami Beach late Friday night and then swept on across the peninsula has left an area of ruin now being counted in money as well as lives. The Red Cross says it needs four to five million dollars at once, with contributions so far about $800,000, and bodies are still being recovered at Moore Haven on Lake Okeechobee.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 7, refugees move north
As printed: Women and Children Taken from Hollywood and All Males Are Drafted to Clear Away Tangled Wreckage.
ContextThe hurricane that struck Miami and Miami Beach in the early hours of Saturday, September 18, and crossed the peninsula has left surveys from West Palm Beach to Miami and around Lake Okeechobee showing 849 known dead, 1,100 injured and property losses near $165,000,000. Thousands are baring their arms for anti-typhoid serum, women and children are being taken out of Hollywood while every man is conscripted to clear wreckage, and some 200 more bodies are expected to be found at Moorehaven, where the lake burst its dikes.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 8, evacuation ordered and trouble in Miami
As printed: RACE FIGHTS SLOW WORK IN FLORIDA
ContextThe West Indian hurricane that struck south Florida in the early hours of Saturday, September 18, is now followed by a harder second week: Governor Martin has ordered every civilian out of Moorehaven and the flooded Lake Okeechobee country for fear of disease, and the known dead stand at 364 with property loss put near $200,000,000. In Miami, two Marines and two Negroes were wounded in an exchange of fire that began, the Marines say, when they took the two for looters at a wrecked store, and troops, police and deputies were sent into the district.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 8, rebuilding begins and the missing are counted
As printed: FLORIDA REPAIRING HAVOC WROUGHT BY BATTERING STORM
ContextThe West Indian hurricane came ashore at Miami and Miami Beach in the early hours of Saturday, September 18, and crossed the peninsula to Lake Okeechobee, whose dikes gave way at Moore Haven. The American Red Cross is the chief national agency collecting and distributing storm relief.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 9, Miami turns to clearing and rebuilding
As printed: "NO LAGGARDS" IS SLOGAN FOR FLORIDA CITIES
ContextThe West Indian hurricane came ashore at Miami and Miami Beach in the early hours of Saturday, September 18. Miami is the seat of Dade County, and Royal Palm Park lay on the city's waterfront.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 10, a new disturbance reported at sea
As printed: NEW TROPICAL STORM ON WAY, MIAMI WARNED
ContextThe West Indian hurricane came ashore at Miami and Miami Beach in the early hours of Saturday, September 18. Richard Gray heads the United States Weather Bureau office at Miami; "Porto Rico" was then the standard American spelling of Puerto Rico.
The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 · day 13, the Red Cross appeal
As printed: Officials from Governor Down and Including Real Estate Men Accused of Sacrificing Real Sufferers in Interests of Hotel and Tourist Business.
ContextThe West Indian hurricane struck Miami and Miami Beach in the early hours of Saturday, September 18. John Barton Payne is national chairman of the American Red Cross, the body that organizes relief after disasters and pays for it by public subscription; Edward W. Romfh is mayor of Miami, and the San Francisco disaster referred to is the earthquake and fire of 1906.
