1935 Labor Day hurricane
The 1935 Labor Day hurricane was an extremely powerful and devastating Atlantic hurricane that struck the southeastern United States in early September 1935. For several decades, it was the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of barometric pressure, 1-minute sustained winds, and the strongest at landfall by 1-minute sustained winds. The fourth tropical cyclone, third tropical storm, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, it is one of four Category 5 hurricanes on record to strike the contiguous United States, along with Hurricane Camille , Hurricane Andrew , and Hurricane Michael .
The hurricane intensified rapidly during its time, passing near Long Key on Labor Day evening, September 2. The region was swept by a massive storm surge as the eye passed over the area. The waters quickly receded after carving new channels connecting the bay with the ocean; however, gale-force winds and rough seas persisted into Tuesday, disrupting rescue efforts. The storm continued northwestward along the Florida west coast, weakening before making its second landfall near Cedar Key, Florida, on September 4.
The hurricane caused catastrophic damage in the upper Florida Keys, as a storm surge of approximately swept over the low-lying islands. The hurricane's strong winds and the surge destroyed nearly all the structures between Tavernier and Marathon. The town of Islamorada was obliterated. Portions of the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway were severely damaged or destroyed. In addition, many veterans died in work camps created for the construction of the Overseas Highway, in part due to poor working conditions. The hurricane also caused more damage in northwest Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
Meteorological history
An area of disturbed weather developed northeast of the Turks Islands toward the end of August. By August 31, a definite tropical depression appeared near Long Island in the southeastern Bahamas and quickly intensified. It reached hurricane intensity near the south end of Andros Island on September 1. The storm then explosively intensified and turned toward the Florida Keys at a speed of 10 mph. The storm had an eye across. The storm made landfall late on September 2 near Long Key, at peak intensity, with an intensity of and 1-minute sustained winds of. After leaving the Keys, the storm weakened as it skirted the Florida gulf coast, making a second landfall at Cedar Key. The storm sped up and rapidly weakened over the Mid-Atlantic states, causing heavy rainfall, with the highest total being in Easton, Maryland. The storm finally emerged over the open Atlantic near Cape Henry. The storm continued into the North Atlantic Ocean, where it merged with an extratropical cyclone on September 10.The first recorded instance of an aircraft flown for the specific purpose of locating a hurricane occurred on the afternoon of September 2, 1935. The Weather Bureau's 1:30 PM advisory placed the center of the hurricane at north latitude 23° 20', west longitude 80° 15', moving slowly westward. This was about north of Isabela de Sagua, Villa Clara, Cuba, and east of Havana. Captain Leonard Povey of the Aviation Corps of the Cuban Army volunteered to investigate the threat to the capital. Flying a Curtis Hawk II, Captain Povey, an American expatriate, who was the Aviation Corps' chief training officer, observed the storm north of its reported position. Because he was flying an open-cockpit biplane, he opted not to fly into the storm. He later proposed an aerial hurricane patrol. Nothing further came of this idea until June 1943, when Colonel Joe Duckworth and Lieutenant Ralph O'Hair flew into a hurricane near Galveston, Texas.
Records
The Labor Day hurricane was the most intense tropical cyclone known to make landfall in the Western Hemisphere, having the lowest sea level pressure ever officially recorded on land—a central pressure of —suggesting an intensity of between. This record would be equaled by Hurricane Melissa in 2025. The somewhat compensating effects of a slow translational velocity along with an extremely tiny radius of maximum wind led to an analyzed intensity at landfall of. The 1935 Labor Day hurricane is also tied with 2019's Hurricane Dorian and Melissa for the highest intensity for a landfalling Atlantic hurricane in HURDAT2, as 1969's Hurricane Camille has been reanalyzed in 2014 to have the fourth highest landfalling intensity with winds.Preparations
Northeast storm warnings were ordered displayed from Fort Pierce to Fort Myers in the September 1, 9:30 AM Weather Bureau advisory. Upon receipt of this advisory the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Miami, FL, sent a plane along the coast to advise boaters and campers of the impending danger by dropping message blocks. A second flight was made on Sunday afternoon. After, planes were placed in the hangar and its door closed at 10:00 AM Monday.File:Labor_Day_hurricane_weather_map_,_September_1,_1935_.jpg|thumb|230x230px|Surface weather map showing the hurricane approaching the Florida Straits on September 1The 3:30 AM advisory, September 2, predicted that the disturbance "will probably pass through the Florida Straits Monday" and cautioned "against high tides and gales Florida Keys and ships in path". The 1:30 PM advisory ordered hurricane warnings for the Key West district which extended north to Key Largo. At around 2:00 PM, Fred Ghent, Assistant Administrator, Florida Emergency Relief Administration, requested a special train to evacuate the veterans work camps located in the upper keys.
It departed Miami at 4:25 PM; delayed by a draw bridge opening, obstructions across the track, poor visibility and the necessity to back the locomotive below Homestead the train finally arrived at the Islamorada station on Upper Matecumbe Key at about 8:20 PM. This coincided with an abrupt wind shift from the northeast to southeast and the arrival on the coast of the storm surge.
Impact
In the Bahamas, the colonial government reported that the cyclone caused minor damage to property, but no injuries or fatalities. Additionally, the Climatological Data journal noted that "there was one report of some damage on the extreme southern end of Andros Island". Rough seas impacted the north coast of Cuba, while the storm also caused some impacts in Camagüey and Santa Clara provinces due to overflowing inland streams.Three ships were reported to have run aground in the Florida Keys during the storm. The Danish motorship Leise Maersk was carried over and grounded nearly 4 miles away near Upper Matecumbe Key, although there was no loss of life. The engine room was flooded and the ship was disabled. The American tanker Pueblo lost control near around 2 pm on September 2 and was pushed around the storm's center, ending up in Molasses Reef nearly eight hours later. The passenger steamship Dixie ran aground on French Reef. She was re-floated and towed to New York on September 19. No fatalities resulted from the incident.
The hurricane produced squalls and sustained winds up to on Key West, causing little damage. Similarly, mostly minor impacts occurred on Big Pine and No Name keys, aside from winds blowing away tar paper roofs and ripping window screens. In Marathon, the hurricane demolished a large fish house on Boot Key. Many dwellings lost their roofs, while some others were destroyed. A school building also suffered damage to its roof and some doors and windows, while a Florida East Coast Railway dredge was swept about three blocks inland. One fisherman in Marathon died. Significant damage occurred to a fish house on Key Vaca, where water reached up to above ground, causing the death of one person. Extensive washouts to the railway and roads were reported on Crawl and Grassy keys. Waves swept away four people on the latter. Additionally, a report by the Florida Emergency Relief Administration noted that "the only thing standing on this key is one-half of the white foreman's house".
File:Labor_Day_hurricane_weather_analysis_,_Sep_2,_1935.jpg|thumb|Surface weather analysis showing the hurricane rapidly intensifying in the Florida Straits early on September 2, just several hours prior to landfall in the Upper Florida Keys
In the Upper Florida Keys, the hurricane left a path of near-total destruction, centered on what is today the village of Islamorada, although the hurricane's destructive path was narrower than most tropical cyclones. Its eye was across and the fiercest winds extended off the center, similar to 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which was also a relatively small and catastrophic Category 5 hurricane. The Florida section of Climatological Data stated that the Upper Florida Keys experienced winds from, while gusts probably went above. Tides reached high enough to wash away crossties and railroad tracks of the Florida East Coast Railway, which had viaducts that were above the average water level. Additionally, storm surge ranged from in height.
Image:Train derailed by the 1935 hurricane.jpg|thumb|left|Florida East Coast Railway Overseas Railroad relief train derailed near Islamorada|276x276px
The cyclone destroyed most of a fishing camp and a hotel, the railway, and vegetation on Long Key. The few buildings that remained standing were moved by the storm surge. On the tiny island of Craig Key, a post office, home, and marina were demolished, while the bridge tender's house suffered damage. Following a damage assessment conducted by Dr. R. E. Christie, a Red Cross volunteer director from Miami, he reported that a -stretch of the Upper Florida Keys from Lower Matecumbe Key to Tavernier was "washed as clean as a billiard table by the tidal wave". The eye of the storm passed a few miles to the southwest creating a calm of about 40 minutes duration over Lower Matecumbe and 55 minutes over Long Key. At Camp #3 on Lower Matecumbe the surge arrived near the end of the calm with the wind close behind. Nearly every structure was demolished, and some bridges and railway embankments were washed away. The links—rail, road, and ferry boats—that chained the islands together were broken. The main transportation route linking the Keys to mainland Florida had been a single railroad line, the Florida Overseas Railroad portion of the Florida East Coast Railway.
On Upper Matecumbe Key, near Islamorada, an eleven-car evacuation train encountered a powerful storm surge topped by cresting waves. Eleven cars were swept from the tracks, leaving only the locomotive and tender upright and still on the rails. Remarkably, everyone on the train survived. The locomotive and tender were both barged back to Miami several months later. Storm surge and abnormally high tides also removed just over of fill between Lower and Upper Matecumbe Key, restoring the natural channel between the two islands. Captain Ed Butters on Upper Matecumbe Key claimed that his barometer fell to. However, this could not be verified because Captain Butters tossed the instrument into the storm under distress. Thus, the observation of recorded on Craig Key remains the lowest barometric pressure associated with the hurricane. Only a bathtub remained of the Carribee Colony tourist camp, while the storm severed off the second floor of the Hotel Matecumbe.
An account by Ernest Hemingway noted that "not a blade of grass" remained on Indian Key. However, at Alligator Reef Lighthouse, located about to the southeast, a large glass plane remained intact. On Windley Key, 40 people sheltered in a makeshift veterans hospital were forced to move to the second floor due to storm surge flooding, before the building was eventually destroyed. Five or six washouts occurred along the highway from Snake Creek to Key Largo. Tides at Tavernier reached above mean sea level at a train station, or roughly above ground. Approximately 30 out of the 50 residences in Tavernier were virtually demolished. Farther north on Key Largo, the Card Sound Bridge was washed out. Florida Road Department chief engineer J. H. Dowling estimated that throughout the Florida Keys, the hurricane destroyed approximately of the Overseas Highway.
After the third day of the storm corpses swelled and split open in the subtropical heat, according to rescue workers. Public health officials ordered plain wood coffins holding the dead to be stacked and burned in several locations. The National Weather Service estimated 408 deaths from the hurricane. Bodies were recovered as far away as Flamingo and Cape Sable on the southwest tip of the Florida mainland. The United States Coast Guard and other federal and state agencies organized evacuation and relief efforts. Boats and airplanes carried injured survivors to Miami. The railroad was never rebuilt, but temporary bridges and ferry landings were under construction as soon as materials arrived. On March 29, 1938, the last gap in the Overseas Highway linking Key West to the mainland was completed. The new highway incorporated the roadbed and surviving bridges of the railway.
Parts of southeast Florida, including Miami and West Palm Beach, mainly experienced downed trees, signs, and powerlines, leaving some people without electricity. However, sustained winds estimated at in Homestead led to substantial crop damage in southern Dade County, while a warehouse was partially deroofed and numerous trees littered the road to the Florida Keys. Losses to crops in the vicinity of Homestead ranged from $400,000 to $600,000. Around Cape Sable, the storm destroyed many structures and crops and severely injured three people at Flamingo. In Collier County, Seminole camps suffered damage due to high winds and floods, while the roads leading from the Tamiami Trail to Marco Island and Everglades City were left impassable due to being submerged. Everglades City itself was inundated with up to of water, but no noteworthy damage occurred other than to wires, trees, and vegetation.
The hurricane destroyed over half of Naples's fishing pier. One person died on State Road 80 near the Hendry–Lee county line when a bus overturned in rainy conditions. The latter also reported damage to approximately 25% of citrus crops, several unroofed buildings, and numerous toppled trees. Rainfall inundated some streets along the Caloosahatchee River with up to of water. The hurricane deroofed several homes on Gasparilla Island, including at Boca Grande, causing most people on the island to evacuate. Despite wind gusts reaching, Tampa held municipal elections on September 3. A two-story building housing a voting precinct was destroyed, while many other polling places lost electricity, forcing voting to be conducted in candlelight. Throughout the city, the hurricane downed wires, signs, and trees, and washed out roads in a number of places. The Ybor City neighborhood reported the deroofing of a post office and the shattering of windows at several businesses.
Along Florida's gulf coast, the hurricane impacted Cedar Key particularly severely. Nearly all roofs experienced at least minor damage, many of which were blown off, while winds also downed many trees and power lines. The cyclone also severely damaged docks and fishing vessels. Three deaths occurred in the town.
Florida governor David Sholtz described Horseshoe Beach in Dixie County" as "completely isolated, with nearly every home there destroyed". A loss of roughly 80% of commercial timber occurred in neighboring Taylor County, where approximately 300 families became homeless. In Gainesville, a large pine tree struck an engineering department building at the University of Florida. Governor Sholtz also reported high winds and that "all communications facilities have been disrupted" in Tallahassee. The storm brought over of rain to parts of Georgia when it passed over the state between September 4–5. The heavy rainfall in southern Georgian counties led to the spoilage of cotton. Attendant winds also ruined crops and inflicted minor damage to property, including a power line falling on a store in Quitman, which set the building on fire. Barometric pressures fell to at Valdosta, the lowest ever recorded there.
Property damage along the coastal regions of South Carolina amounted to $15,000, with the damage primarily occurring in the vicinity of Beaufort, Georgetown, and Walterboro. Damage to crops in South Carolina was also considerable, with high winds blowing down cotton, corn, sugar cane, and other unharvested crops. Windthrown trees also injured several people. In North Carolina, several houses in New Bern were set ablaze after the storm toppled many power lines and poles. The downed power lines also led to two deaths. Another fatality occurred in North Carolina near Gastonia due to blinding rains preventing a driver from seeing an oncoming train. Corn suffered heavy losses in Virginia, contributing the bulk of the state's $1.65 million crop damage toll. A tornado in Farmville killed two people and another twister in Courtland caused one fatality after destroying a home. The former tornado also impacted Hampden–Sydney College, deroofing an administration building, unrooting ancient oak trees, and tossing approximately 20 headstones from a cemetery on the school's property.File:Labor_Day_hurricane_weather_map,_September_7,_1935.jpg|thumb|Weather map of the hurricane's extratropical remnants to the south of Newfoundland on September 7|235x235px
Although winds had decreased over land by the time the storm reached the Mid-Atlantic states, the storm brought excessive rainfall that caused substantial damage to the region's crops. The storm became the wettest tropical cyclone on record for ten counties in Maryland and two counties in Delaware, with rainfall totals peaking between ; the highest measured rainfall total was in Easton, Maryland. Approximately 1,000 people along the Eastern Shore fled their homes due to flooding. Impacts from the storm in Maryland and Delaware were primarily concentrated in the southern portions of the two states; the cost of the damage amounted to around $2 million, including losses of $1 million in Caroline County, Maryland. High tides and heavy rains over South New Jersey flooded parts of Cape May County, with knee-high water leaving many families marooned. Four communities lost electricity after lightning struck a transformer in Sea Isle City. Many boats were submerged at Stone Harbor and Ocean City.