Hemingway"s Hurricane - Labor Day 1935

A post from last year enhanced a bit - From a NOAA news release on the 75th anniversary -

The Labor Day storm was the first of only three category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States. It roared through the Upper and Middle Florida Keys with winds estimated between 150 to 200 miles per hour and a 20 foot storm surge. The combination washed 10 cars from the relief train off the tracks - leaving only the locomotive.


An American Red Cross report lists the death toll at 408, the majority of whom were veterans working on a construction project for the Works Progress Administration. Widespread destruction throughout the Keys caused an estimated $6 million in damages ($96 million in 2010 dollars).
A book that is focused specifically on the 1935 hurricane, said to be the most intense hurricane to strike the US in recorded history, is: “The Great Florida Keys Storm of 1935 – Hemingway’s Hurricane” by Phil Scott.


I’ve been reading a number of books related to Ernest Hemingway the last couple of weeks (Fall 2010). These all make reference to the Great Florida Keys Hurricane of Labor Day 1935. I found the following quote about President Bush in one of these books:
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“Following Hurricane….., then President Bush George Bush flew over …., and, even after that bird’s-eye view of things, returned to Washington, still undecided whether federal relief funds were truly necessary. Outraged community leaders demanded that Bush return for a street-level assessment.” Quoted from “Last Train to Paradise” by Les Standiford (subtitled – Henry Flager and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean).
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I was quite amazed when I read this – the omitted words above are: … Andrew’s assault on South Miami – Dade County in 1992…. and … Homestead and its environs….. so, the president referred to was George H. W. Bush. Seems some of us never learn from any of our father’s mistakes!