Downtown West Palm Beach devastation after the Storm of '28, September 16, 1928. Little is left standing.

Downtown West Palm Beach -- Boat and debris cover the streets after the Storm of '28

Storm of '28 aftermath in West Palm Beach

More than 2,000 people drowned from flooding during the Storm of '28

Houses under water near the shore of Lake Okeechobee

Survivors assess damage on the South Shore of Lake Okeechobee.

Belle Glade -- South Shore of Lake Okeechobee. Homes and property in ruins.

The storm's white victims were buried in makeshift coffins. (Note: Only white bodies were buried in coffins around cemeteries in West Palm Beach, African-American victims were carted in trucks and buried in an unmarked paupers grave on Tamarind St. in downtown West Palm Beach.)

Bodies were stacked and burned for health reasons in Belle Glade after the Storm of '28

1928 Postcard covering storm of '28 damage. Note: Text is shown below.

(Back Side)

SOUTH FLORIDA HURRICANE
SEPTEMBER 16, 1928
AT WEST PALM BEACH, LAKE WORTH
DELRAY, POMPANO AND THE
EVERGLADES

2,300 Lives .
6,000 Buildings Destroyed.
$60,00,000 Property Loss.
$12,000,000 Red Cross Fund.


PRICE 25¢

(Front Side)

THE SOUTH FLORIDA HURRICANE

The Hurricane which struck Palm Beach and this coast line of Florida from Fort Lauderdale in the south to Fort Pierce in the north and then raged across the Everglades was one of the most destructive disasters in the history of the United States. It stuck the coast about 6 o'clock on Sunday evening Sept. 16th wrecking the towns and cities of Pompano, Delray, Boynton, Lake Worth, the Palm Beaches, Jupiter, Riviera and Kelsey City. Then it struck across the Everglades and in the Lake Okeechobee region smashed Pahokee, Bell Blade, Chosen, Canal Point and Okeechobee City. It smashed dikes encircling lake Okeechobee and the rushing water from the lake swept over the Everglades for a radius of 30 to 35 miles. So sudden was the onslaught and it being night the inhabitants of the Everglades were drowned by the hundreds and it is estimated that over 2000 lives were lost in the flood, a large portion of these being colored

Refugees from the Everglades were brought into West Palm Beach and distributed to various refugee camps. The bodies of the drowned were brought by truck to West Palm Beach and 732 were buried in cemeteries there. On Sept. 26th, 55 white bodies were buried and 212 bodies of Negroes were also buried or burned, 87 being burned in one funeral pyre alone The bodies had become so decomposed that there were no longer brought into West Palm Beach but burned in the Everglades.

2,300 Perished.
$60,000,000 Property Loss.
3,244 Homes Destroyed in Palm Beach County alone.
536 Business Houses destroyed.

The town of Belle Glade was almost leveled as most buildings were flattened or severely damaged.

Survivors removing debris.