In 1928, THOUSANDS of people died when Lake Okeechobee,FL(WARNING GRAPHIC)

[jsamuel]

was pushed south by a hurricane. Most of the people were black and the bodies were so numerous, no one knows how many really died. Knowing this, I was very concerned about NO before Katrina since it also has a large lake. Unlike the ocean, lakes have a large surface area and no convection to balance out a hurricane's wind.



While South Florida is not a "bowl" it is a slope and even though they are a 50 miles from the sea, they are only 10-20 feet above it. That is why the Everglades exist.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928_Okeechobee_Hurricane

"In south Florida at least 2,500 were killed when storm surge from Lake Okeechobee breached the dike surrounding the lake, flooding an area covering hundreds of square miles. In total, the hurricane killed at least 4,075 people and caused around $100 million ($800 million in 2005 US dollars) in damages over the course of its path."

A lot like NO, but the black people who died were not counted as they were too many to count. Florida had a large rural population of black towns during this period.

[Ilsa]

1. Galveston.

September 1900 Galveston, Texas Death toll: 8,000-12,000 estimated The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 is estimated to have killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people. The category 5 hurricane struck on September 8, 1900, leveling 12 city blocks, nearly three-quarters of the island city of Galveston, Texas.

They tried dumping the bodies at sea, but the corpses washed up on shore again, so African American men were drafted into helping to dispose of the bodies by taking them outside of town for burning. They said the stench was everywhere. The African American men were supposedly paid with booze and not much of anything else from a report I heard.

[Sequoia]

2. I'd need booze to do a job like that.

[ceile]

3. My least favorite part of history class.

Many times throughout my schooling in Houston we had to learn about the hurricane of 1900. Terrible. I still shudder.

[Lex]

4. Have you read "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson

about the Galveston Hurricane?

Very absorbing book. I read it just after Katrina hit NOLA last year.


From the amazon.com blurb about it: "In Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people, and the hurricane that devastated them. Drawing on hundreds of personal reminiscences of the storm, Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath."

[Beausoir]

5. I've read it. Powerful book.

Very detailed narrative.

What a monster of a storm.

[LuCifer]

6. Oh boy

And I live 20 miles north of the Big Lake! Well, I hope Taylor Creek can absorb it all befo it gets up here...YEAH RIGHT! Glad I can swim...