Oh No Lake O! It’s September 16th, 1928, and you’re planning a fishing trip to Lake Okeechobee. You’ve heard there’s a hurricane heading towards South Florida but after the disastrous storm that flooded the area only two years prior you think “nah, I’m good” and load your gear. “It will either fizzle out or go elsewhere. There’s simply no chance the same area is struck twice in such a short time frame. Doesn’t happen,” you tell your fishing buddies who nervously agree.
Unfortunately for you and thousands of others, the sky disagreed. The Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, also known as the “San Felipe Segundo” hurricane and “Florida's Forgotten Storm”, made landfall in West Palm on September 17th, 1928. The most severe effects were around Lake O, with flooding from the lake devastating Belle Glade and other south shore towns. At least 2,500 drowned and many more are suspected to have perished in what remains the deadliest disaster in the state’s history.
The Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928