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Black Cloud: The Deadly Hurricane of 1928
In September 1928, when great storms were still unnamed, nearly 700 black men, women, and children were buried in an unmarked West Palm Beach ditch following the nation's second-deadliest hurricane. The savage gusts that churned the waters of Lake Okeechobee into a maelstrom of death afflicted victims of all races and classes, and produced tales of survival and loss among whites and blacks alike. The vast majority of the post-storm workers were poor black migrants; even if the hurricane was color-blind, the recovery and rebuilding effort were not. Palm Beach Post hurricane reporter and Florida native Eliot Kleinberg has penned the gripping tale of the killer hurricane. The storm's journey is chronicled as it kills perhaps 7,000 people along its path from the Caribbean to Canada, including a low official tally of 1,836 in Florida alone. Detailing the storm's track, the failure to properly predict landfall, personal battles against nature's wrath, and the extraordinary suffering of a black citizenry forced to provide a disproportionate amount of rebuilding labor and endure the burial of friends and family in an unmarked pit, Kleinberg tells a powerful story of man versus nature and man versus man.
345 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
Eliot Kleinberg
14 books9 followersFlorida native Eliot Kleinberg, creator of the Civil War historical novel "Peace River," the"Adventures of Nate Moran" novels, and the original "Weird Florida" books, spent nearly a half-century reporting on local news and writing about Florida and Florida history. He produced two history columns and wrote fourteen books -- and co-wrote or contributed to several more -- all of them about Florida. Son of longtime journalist Howard Kleinberg, he lectures regularly on Florida topics and runs a blog on better writing called "Something Went Horribly Wrong." http://www.ekfla.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 5, 2017
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I would categorize the author as an expert on his home state, Florida. He has written ten books all of which are about Florida. He is currently a news and features writer for the Palm Beach Post in Palm Beach County, of course in Florida.
The central focus of this book is the Hurricane of 1928 that hit Guadeloupe (Sept 12), Puerto Rico (Sept 13/14), the Bahamas (Sept 15) and then Florida (Sept 16). Having struck West Palm Beach, it continued inland flooding the land bordering Okeechobee Lake where it was most destructive killing large numbers of poor, black, migrant farm workers before heading north passing by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Finger Lakes north of Toronto and finally petering out in Ontario, Canada. This cyclone remains one of the three Atlantic hurricanes to strike the southern mainland of Florida with a central pressure below 940 mbar (27.76 inHg), by which the ferocity of the storms are most commonly measured. The other two were the 1926 Miami hurricane and Hurricane Andrew of 1992. The different methods by which these storms are measured and categorized are fully covered.
The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane claimed most likely 2500-3000 lives and is judged to be the second-deadliest hurricane in United States history. A south-blowing wind caused a lake surge of 6 to 9 feet to overflow the lake's inadequate dikes. The land was flooded for hundreds of square miles, survivors and dead bodies eventually deposited in the Everglades. Many were unidentifiable. Discrimination against the black and the poor being what it was in the South in the 20s and given the numbers killed, authorities simply were not up to the task of providing proper burial. Mass graves where Whites were separated from Blacks were as good as it got.
The book is extensively researched, but I never felt I was drowned in dry facts. I was given information I needed to know to understand what happened.
The flooding around Okeechobee Lake is the setting for the conclusion of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. An entire chapter focuses on the author’s life, the book and how it came to be written. This is just one of the many examples of the author’s extensive research. It is the depth of the research that makes the book so interesting.
This storm affected the lives of many, many people. To make the telling something a reader can emotionally relate to it is helpful to focus on a smaller, limited group. This the author does. The book begins by introducing those that we will meet up with later as we follow the storm’s path. The book ends by telling us what has happened to those that survived and of the descendants of those who perished.
At the book’s end is a chronological summary of the events as they unfolded. Also a listing of statistics, such as deaths, injured and damages.
The audiobook is very well narrated by Lee Ann Howlett. She reads clearly and steadily in an even, stable tone. As she gets into the telling it improves. It feels as though she comes to stride, she gathers strength and knows what she is speaking of. This is simply the feeling I got! She is immersed in the events and tells them to the listener step by step so all will become clear.
I would categorize the author as an expert on his home state, Florida. He has written ten books all of which are about Florida. He is currently a news and features writer for the Palm Beach Post in Palm Beach County, of course in Florida.
The central focus of this book is the Hurricane of 1928 that hit Guadeloupe (Sept 12), Puerto Rico (Sept 13/14), the Bahamas (Sept 15) and then Florida (Sept 16). Having struck West Palm Beach, it continued inland flooding the land bordering Okeechobee Lake where it was most destructive killing large numbers of poor, black, migrant farm workers before heading north passing by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Finger Lakes north of Toronto and finally petering out in Ontario, Canada. This cyclone remains one of the three Atlantic hurricanes to strike the southern mainland of Florida with a central pressure below 940 mbar (27.76 inHg), by which the ferocity of the storms are most commonly measured. The other two were the 1926 Miami hurricane and Hurricane Andrew of 1992. The different methods by which these storms are measured and categorized are fully covered.
The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane claimed most likely 2500-3000 lives and is judged to be the second-deadliest hurricane in United States history. A south-blowing wind caused a lake surge of 6 to 9 feet to overflow the lake's inadequate dikes. The land was flooded for hundreds of square miles, survivors and dead bodies eventually deposited in the Everglades. Many were unidentifiable. Discrimination against the black and the poor being what it was in the South in the 20s and given the numbers killed, authorities simply were not up to the task of providing proper burial. Mass graves where Whites were separated from Blacks were as good as it got.
The book is extensively researched, but I never felt I was drowned in dry facts. I was given information I needed to know to understand what happened.
The flooding around Okeechobee Lake is the setting for the conclusion of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. An entire chapter focuses on the author’s life, the book and how it came to be written. This is just one of the many examples of the author’s extensive research. It is the depth of the research that makes the book so interesting.
This storm affected the lives of many, many people. To make the telling something a reader can emotionally relate to it is helpful to focus on a smaller, limited group. This the author does. The book begins by introducing those that we will meet up with later as we follow the storm’s path. The book ends by telling us what has happened to those that survived and of the descendants of those who perished.
At the book’s end is a chronological summary of the events as they unfolded. Also a listing of statistics, such as deaths, injured and damages.
The audiobook is very well narrated by Lee Ann Howlett. She reads clearly and steadily in an even, stable tone. As she gets into the telling it improves. It feels as though she comes to stride, she gathers strength and knows what she is speaking of. This is simply the feeling I got! She is immersed in the events and tells them to the listener step by step so all will become clear.
March 16, 2017
Audible:This is the story of the Hurricane that went through Florida in 1928 leaving destruction on a massive scale.Told ,matter of factly, by Lee Ann Howlett it is a must read.I was provided this book free by the author, narrator or publisher.
March 10, 2017
Black Cloud is the compelling story of the deadly hurricane of 1928 in Florida. The author, Eliot Kleinberg , moves seamlessly between a richly detailed factual account, a social overview of the time and place, and the personal stories of individuals who were affected by the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. I listened to the audio version, read by Lee Ann Howlett. She did a wonderful job.
This storm had no name (it was before storms had names), and the narrative describes a Florida much different from the one we know today. Weather forecasting and communication, as we know it, using satellites, computers, and other technology did not exist. I'm not a weather expert, but I think the descriptions of the weather events were excellent.
I learned a lot about those years, the storm, and the aftermath. Many good people rallied and sent food, supplies and medical aid to Puerto Rico, hit by the storm before Florida was hit. No one thought the storm would hit Florida. But it did, and there were horrible results.
I also learned that the Red Cross used an earlier storm in 1924 to formulate an action plan in case another severe storm ever came through. No one thought it would. I had never heard of this storm and its aftermath before I listened to this book. The author never loses sight of the very real and heartbreaking story of those that lost everything. This is a story that needed telling.
Lee Ann Howlett narrates this book flawlessly, in a no-nonsense crystal clear way. I can tell when a narrator understands what they are reading and when they don't. Lee Ann Howlett clearly understands the material she is narrating. Very easy to follow along even though the material is dense with facts, descriptions, and analysis of the many things that went wrong and those that were done correctly. She's the perfect narrator for this book.
I highly recommend this tale of nature, human perserverance and courage It is a spellbinding story and one I will always remember.
This storm had no name (it was before storms had names), and the narrative describes a Florida much different from the one we know today. Weather forecasting and communication, as we know it, using satellites, computers, and other technology did not exist. I'm not a weather expert, but I think the descriptions of the weather events were excellent.
I learned a lot about those years, the storm, and the aftermath. Many good people rallied and sent food, supplies and medical aid to Puerto Rico, hit by the storm before Florida was hit. No one thought the storm would hit Florida. But it did, and there were horrible results.
I also learned that the Red Cross used an earlier storm in 1924 to formulate an action plan in case another severe storm ever came through. No one thought it would. I had never heard of this storm and its aftermath before I listened to this book. The author never loses sight of the very real and heartbreaking story of those that lost everything. This is a story that needed telling.
Lee Ann Howlett narrates this book flawlessly, in a no-nonsense crystal clear way. I can tell when a narrator understands what they are reading and when they don't. Lee Ann Howlett clearly understands the material she is narrating. Very easy to follow along even though the material is dense with facts, descriptions, and analysis of the many things that went wrong and those that were done correctly. She's the perfect narrator for this book.
I highly recommend this tale of nature, human perserverance and courage It is a spellbinding story and one I will always remember.
April 2, 2011
I assigned this book to the class I am teaching on natural hazards. At first I thought it would be boring, and almost canceled the assignment and the book, but it was actually gripping and interestingly constructed.
Kleinberg did an amazing amount of research on this storm which was the second deadliest to hit the US in history. He combed through archives, diaries and old newspaper accounts to reconstruct how the hurricane affected lives in Florida from its beginnings off the coast of West Africa to the destruction of the town of Belle Glace south of Lake Okeechobee. Thousands of migrant farm workers from the Caribbean islands were killed, and he presents the first person accounts of many of the survivors.
The scandalous aftermath in which hundreds of black bodies were thrown into unmarked graves and the cowardice of the business community which insisted that the hurricane was not bad enough to stop development or tourism in Florida set the stage for race relations and attitudes towards hurricanes that still prevail today.
Kleinberg makes good use of his sources to reveal the physical characteristics of the storm. A good read if you are interested in hazards and in how to structure a riveting non-fiction story.
Kleinberg did an amazing amount of research on this storm which was the second deadliest to hit the US in history. He combed through archives, diaries and old newspaper accounts to reconstruct how the hurricane affected lives in Florida from its beginnings off the coast of West Africa to the destruction of the town of Belle Glace south of Lake Okeechobee. Thousands of migrant farm workers from the Caribbean islands were killed, and he presents the first person accounts of many of the survivors.
The scandalous aftermath in which hundreds of black bodies were thrown into unmarked graves and the cowardice of the business community which insisted that the hurricane was not bad enough to stop development or tourism in Florida set the stage for race relations and attitudes towards hurricanes that still prevail today.
Kleinberg makes good use of his sources to reveal the physical characteristics of the storm. A good read if you are interested in hazards and in how to structure a riveting non-fiction story.
October 10, 2011
A really good job by Eliot covering things that were forgotten, or just lost to history. I was speaking with him at a HSPBC annual meeting when an old timer came up and started relating first hand "his" experiences. It was something special to watch and hear the first hand account. Folks don't realize that it WILL happen again. We came ever so close to having the dike breached during Wilma. If the right storm hits, we will have the same sort of disaster. I seriously recommend this book for the education that it imparts that ALL folks young and old living in Florida should have.
February 18, 2017
Black Cloud: The Deadly Hurricane of 1928
: Eliot Kleinberg
A recounting of 1928 hurricane that hit Florida. A lot of information was repeated multiple times. The book could probably have been shortened by single reference to events and still been informative. There was good information provided.
The narration was well done by Lee Ann Howlett.
"I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator."
July 5, 2015
History comes to life in BLACK CLOUD. Kleinberg manages the difficult task of describing a monster across thousands of miles and thousands of deaths, while yielding technical insights into the very nature of the beast. All this, while keeping it personal and vital in the lives of the individuals it affected.
September 6, 2020
This was so important, and so well reported.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
May 14, 2022
Unable to finish the book; 50% completed.
Overly detailed and difficult to follow the numerous dates, names, and places mentioned.
Overly detailed and difficult to follow the numerous dates, names, and places mentioned.
December 6, 2023
Very well researched with lots of first-hand accounts of the storm.
November 1, 2015
In my whole other life as a late-night radio dj, I get to read the weather forecast. And having done this for awhile now, and living in a part of the country where the weather just rears up and kills people stone dead each year, I can safely say that meteorology, as a science, would be just as effective if it was practiced by tossing meteorologists into a volcano on a regular basis.
This book is a living testament to that statement. Also a statement about bureaucratic inefficiency and the role of hurricanes and flooding in Southern literature, but those two topics have much less of a daily impact on my life, for better or worse.
Still, this is a fun book about a terrible tragedy, in large part enlivened by the author's gift for zingers, such as:
And:
Never has boom-time real estate sounded so scandalous!
But the book does drag in a couple key places. Namely a long digression into an effort to defame the Red Cross (which could've been condensed into a page, or just skipped) but much more worryingly, the narrative, which starts off strong on introducing individual characters (who you suspect are about to be blown into trees) and then, post-hurricane, they're never heard from again. Like barely even: "Dead. Not dead. Suspected dead. Found a shoe."
And that latter problem dwarfs the greatness of the weather-related writing. Because it is great weather-related writing. It shows just how inept weather forecasting was at the beginning of the last century and why that turned out to have a huge impact. There's a whole extended section of hurricaning through Puerto Rico and the Caribbean that's fascinating, and the hurricane swanning through Florida is pretty decently exciting and then the wind in those authorial sails just dies. It should be moving and sad and awful to recount all the dead and the missing after the fact, and... it's not.
So: 4 stars for weather science, 2 stars for human interest = 3 stars total.
This book is a living testament to that statement. Also a statement about bureaucratic inefficiency and the role of hurricanes and flooding in Southern literature, but those two topics have much less of a daily impact on my life, for better or worse.
Still, this is a fun book about a terrible tragedy, in large part enlivened by the author's gift for zingers, such as:
At St. Johns Church, where congregants and been arguing over the fate of the current pastor, the hurricane at least temporarily made that moot, as it leveled the building.
And:
As many as ten trains a day were arriving in West Palm Beach, disgorging both buyers and sellers in an orgy of promiscuous capitalism.
Never has boom-time real estate sounded so scandalous!
But the book does drag in a couple key places. Namely a long digression into an effort to defame the Red Cross (which could've been condensed into a page, or just skipped) but much more worryingly, the narrative, which starts off strong on introducing individual characters (who you suspect are about to be blown into trees) and then, post-hurricane, they're never heard from again. Like barely even: "Dead. Not dead. Suspected dead. Found a shoe."
And that latter problem dwarfs the greatness of the weather-related writing. Because it is great weather-related writing. It shows just how inept weather forecasting was at the beginning of the last century and why that turned out to have a huge impact. There's a whole extended section of hurricaning through Puerto Rico and the Caribbean that's fascinating, and the hurricane swanning through Florida is pretty decently exciting and then the wind in those authorial sails just dies. It should be moving and sad and awful to recount all the dead and the missing after the fact, and... it's not.
So: 4 stars for weather science, 2 stars for human interest = 3 stars total.
November 8, 2017
Today we are really fortunate. We know the chance of a hurricane hitting us weeks in advance and as it gets closer the reports predict a smaller cone of probability. But in 1928 that was not the case. Hopefully, the hurricane came across a ship or a Carribean island to give some idea. This book covers the great hurricane of 1928 and its devastating effects on the residents of the Lake Okeechobee area. Lots of people thought because they were so far inland they wouldn't have a problem. But with the dike breaking on the lake it flooded the homes on the edge of the Everglades. Much farmland was put under water killing crops and livestock.
Throughout this book, Kleinberg gives you acts of heroism, and complete heartbreak as some parents had their children in their arms until getting smashed with a wave and losing them in the water. This book also goes heavy on the racial factors. In the mass graves that were dug, they had to be sure not to mix the white and black dead bodies. Also, blacks were still used as the labor force because they were sent out to collect the bodies. Post devastation once the federal government stepped in a funded a proper dike on the Lake, part of the land was turned into sugar fields.
I think this book would be good for anyone interested in hurricanes. Early tracking of hurricanes seems so archaic in our modern view. Another thing I found quite interesting is the propensity of humans to see something like the Everglades and think "Wow you know if we dug some canals we could drain this property and use it for farming or sell for high price real estate". Living close to the great dismal swamp they did the same thing. Dug canals to drain the property and make it good farming soil. I would love to see some aerial photos of the united states from the 1600 or 1700's before the white man conquered the land so dramatically.
Throughout this book, Kleinberg gives you acts of heroism, and complete heartbreak as some parents had their children in their arms until getting smashed with a wave and losing them in the water. This book also goes heavy on the racial factors. In the mass graves that were dug, they had to be sure not to mix the white and black dead bodies. Also, blacks were still used as the labor force because they were sent out to collect the bodies. Post devastation once the federal government stepped in a funded a proper dike on the Lake, part of the land was turned into sugar fields.
I think this book would be good for anyone interested in hurricanes. Early tracking of hurricanes seems so archaic in our modern view. Another thing I found quite interesting is the propensity of humans to see something like the Everglades and think "Wow you know if we dug some canals we could drain this property and use it for farming or sell for high price real estate". Living close to the great dismal swamp they did the same thing. Dug canals to drain the property and make it good farming soil. I would love to see some aerial photos of the united states from the 1600 or 1700's before the white man conquered the land so dramatically.
May 26, 2010
I've lived in Florida for a majority of my life and have a love/hate relationship with hurricanes. They are at once fascinating and terrifying. With a subject so interesting and such a diverse group of people effected by the power and devastation, you'd think this book would be naturally compelling.
Unfortunately the organization of this work is nearly inscrutable. The narrative jumps from location to location, tossing out tidbits about specific families or experiences, but quickly moving miles or hours later in the storm. While so many died, the lack of focus in the narrative dehumanizes the individuals rather than make them real and their stories compelling.
Each chapter is a bewildering mix of history of the towns, individual stories including how each of a multitude of people came to be in South Florida, tidbits about hurricane prediction and preparedness, and actual details about the experience and damage of this storm.
Still, I did read this entire book, disappointments and all, because the storm itself was interesting and the unique combination of events that lead to such a high death toll when Lake Okeechobee overflowed kept me at least marginally engaged in the story. Still - not the best hurricane book ever and not even in the same universe as Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History.
Unfortunately the organization of this work is nearly inscrutable. The narrative jumps from location to location, tossing out tidbits about specific families or experiences, but quickly moving miles or hours later in the storm. While so many died, the lack of focus in the narrative dehumanizes the individuals rather than make them real and their stories compelling.
Each chapter is a bewildering mix of history of the towns, individual stories including how each of a multitude of people came to be in South Florida, tidbits about hurricane prediction and preparedness, and actual details about the experience and damage of this storm.
Still, I did read this entire book, disappointments and all, because the storm itself was interesting and the unique combination of events that lead to such a high death toll when Lake Okeechobee overflowed kept me at least marginally engaged in the story. Still - not the best hurricane book ever and not even in the same universe as Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History.
September 3, 2008
Interesting read. If you live in south Florida, particularly in Palm Beach County, it gives a fascinating look into what surely must have been one of the worst events in county history. It is also interesting to see the differences between hurricane forecasting of yesteryear and of today (makes me thankful I live during a time where there have been many technological advances).
The book can be a bit plodding and there are also so many different people mentioned that it does become difficult to remember who is who, etc.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that had me on the edge of my seat at times. While I've been through Hurricanes France, Jeanne and Wilma, this book made me glad that they were nowhere near as vicious and powerful as the hurricane of 1928.
The book can be a bit plodding and there are also so many different people mentioned that it does become difficult to remember who is who, etc.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that had me on the edge of my seat at times. While I've been through Hurricanes France, Jeanne and Wilma, this book made me glad that they were nowhere near as vicious and powerful as the hurricane of 1928.
April 28, 2019
Very long and sad book. I am doing research on a book I'm writing and I needed to read this for facts. It was horrible. Not the book - but the hurricane and the aftermath of it.
August 10, 2025
The folks in 1928 didn't have radar or any hurricane tracking or predicting tools of today and they suffered consequences.
Read
December 21, 2017Love the personal stories - had to slug it through all the statistics, though.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews