The effects of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in the Caribbean included more than 1,000 deaths and damage to nearly every building on Puerto Rico. The hurricane, also known as "San Felipe II" or "San Felipe Segundo" in Puerto Rico, originated from a tropical depression that formed near Dakar, Senegal, on September 6. Traversing the Atlantic Ocean, the cyclone struck the Lesser Antilles beginning late on September 12. The storm, which was moving west-northwestward, intensified into a Category 5 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale on September 13. Shortly thereafter, the storm made landfall near Maunabo, Puerto Rico, becoming the first and only known Category 5 hurricane to strike the island. The cyclone later struck the Bahamas as a powerful system and made landfall near West Palm Beach, Florida, early on September 17 as a Category 4 hurricane. Thereafter, it moved farther inland across the Southeastern United States and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over North Carolina on September 20, before the remnants became indistinguishable over Ontario on September 21.
Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico suffered some of the worst effects of the cyclone. On the former, which apparently received little warning, the hurricane may have produced wind gusts as high as 186 mph (299 km/h), leaving extensive damage to crops and buildings and rendering about three-fourths of the island's population homeless. At least 1,200 people died on Guadeloupe, and damage was estimated at just over 800 million francs ($31.45 million USD). Winds on Puerto Rico reached a 5-minute sustained speed of 150 mph (240 km/h) in San Juan and possibly 200 mph (320 km/h) farther south. In addition to major agricultural losses – including to coffee plants, with the island never regaining its status as a major exporter of that crop – the storm destroyed 24,728 homes and partially destroyed 192,444 others, leaving roughly 500,000 people homeless. Damage on Puerto Rico totaled approximately $85.312 million, while 312 deaths occurred. The cyclone also killed 42 people on Montserrat, 22 on Saint Kitts and Nevis, 10 on the United States Virgin Islands, 3 each on Martinique and Saint Barthélemy, and 1 on Dominica.
The British Leeward Islands received some assistance from the government of the United Kingdom and a few other countries. To rebuild Guadeloupe, the French government extended about 420 million francs (just over $16.51 million USD) in aid. However, a series of crises following the storm prevented the exportation of crops from that island from fully recovering until after World War II. Given the high death toll on Guadeloupe, a doctor in Pointe-à-Pitre ordered prisoners to quickly bury several hundred bodies with lime to prevent pandemics. The American Red Cross received and then expended more than $5.9 million in aid to the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with the latter given the vast majority of those contributions. Additionally, the organization provided blankets, clothes, cots, tents, and millions of pounds of building materials and food. Following deliberations, the United States Congress agreed to allocate $10 million to Puerto Rico. Similar to Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico struggled to recover from the storm due to subsequent events, including the Great Depression and the 1932 San Ciprián hurricane.
Background
A tropical depression developed almost immediately offshore the west coast of Africa on September 6, near Dakar, Senegal. The depression strengthened into a tropical storm later that day, shortly before passing south of the Cape Verde Islands. Further intensification was halted late on September 7. However, about 48 hours later, the storm resumed strengthening and became a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. The system reached Category 4 intensity before striking Guadeloupe on September 12. Around midday on September 13, the storm strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane while moving west-northwestward, peaking with maximum sustained winds of . About six hours later, the system made landfall in Puerto Rico near Maunabo at the same sustained wind speed; it remains the only tropical cyclone known to have struck the island as a Category 5 hurricane. Moving generally west-northwestward over Puerto Rico, the hurricane crossed the island in about 12 hours and re-entered the Atlantic between Aguadilla and Isabela. Thereafter, the storm weakened slightly, falling to Category 4 intensity, and traversed the Bahamas between September 15 and September 16.
The storm maintained Category 4 intensity through its landfall near Palm Beach, Florida, early on September 17. While crossing Florida, the system weakened significantly, falling to Category 1 intensity late on September 17 just north of the Tampa Bay area. Thereafter, the storm curved north-northeastward and briefly re-emerged into the Atlantic on September 18, but soon made another landfall near Edisto Island, South Carolina, as a Category 1 hurricane. Early on the following day, the system weakened to a tropical storm and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone over North Carolina hours later. The remnants moved northwestward across the Mid-Atlantic region before dissipating over Ontario on September 21.
The storm was named the San Felipe II Hurricane because the eye of the cyclone made landfall in Puerto Rico on the Christian feast day of Saint Philip. It was named "Segundo", Spanish for "the Second", because of another destructive "San Felipe hurricane" that struck the island on that same day in 1876. Since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas in 1492, all storms and hurricanes were named after the name of the saint of the day the storm hit Puerto Rico. In 1950, hurricanes began officially receiving names, but the practice of naming storms after saints continued until 1960.
Preparations The Lesser Antilles received varying amounts of warnings in anticipation of the storm. On the night of September 11, Barbados reported a wind shift, the first land-based sign of the approaching cyclone. Around that time, Alexander J. Mitchell of the Weather Bureau predicted that the storm would pass north of Martinique. After weather watchers and police on Nevis noticed rising and "very treacherous"-looking seas, according to R. Spencer Byron, they informed other people of a hurricane closing in on the island and urged them to board-up their homes or seek refuge at public buildings. On Montserrat, Commissioner Herbert Walter Peebles personally ordered many people to prepare, while signals were activated at St. George's Hill.
Guadeloupe received little advance notice. C. Holman B. Williams, director of the island's agricultural station, spoke with the West India and Panama Telegraph Company manager on the night of September 11, informing Williams of a cyclone "causing a certain amount of anxiety in the British colonies." Williams recalled hearing a radio report from Martinique and receiving a telegram from Puerto Rico Governor Horace M. Towner about the impending storm. However, the Pointe-à-Pitre mayor was also unaware of warning advisories and messages until speaking with Williams. Attempts to warn sugar factories on the following morning failed because winds had already toppled telegraph and telephone wires. A letter to United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg from United States Consul William H. Hunt described the hurricane as striking "with unprecedented suddenness."
On September 11, just prior to the storm reaching the Lesser Antilles, a radio broadcast in San Juan, Puerto Rico, stated that the cyclone would likely pass south of the island late on the following day or early on September 13. Nonetheless, the advisory was sent via telegraph to 75 police districts and was broadcast from the naval radio station every two hours. An updated advisory from the Weather Bureau office in San Juan on the evening of September 12 indicated that the hurricane was located farther north than predicted. Consequently, warnings were also posted for 12 ports along the coast of Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas; this was the first hurricane warning broadcast by radio for the former. Ships avoided Puerto Rico or remained at port. Effective preparation is credited for the relatively low death toll of 312, and not a single ship was lost at sea in the vicinity of Puerto Rico. By comparison, the weaker 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane killed approximately 3,000 people. Similarly, advance warnings reduced the number of ships traversing the Greater Antilles region.
Impact Storm deaths by regionLocaleDeathsMartinique3Guadeloupe1,200Montserrat42Dominica1Saint Kitts and Nevis22United States Virgin Islands10Puerto Rico312Total: 1,632 Leeward Islands The hurricane moved directly over the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening as it did so. Leeward Islands Governor Eustace Fiennes sent a telegram to the Associated Press, stating that "great havoc was wrought in the islands of Dominica and Mont Serrat and Nevis, and to a lesser extent in the islands of Antigua and Saint Kitts. Although Barbados and Saint Lucia mostly avoided the hurricane, abnormally high tides caused coastal flooding and damage to shipping, while a government dredger capsized at the latter.
On the island of Dominica, winds were clocked at . One person perished, while the cyclone also damaged seawalls and ruined crops, leading to fears of a food shortage. In Martinique, further south of the storm's path, there were three deaths. Waves washed away homes along the island's northwest coast, although a report by Walter S. Reineck, U.S. Consul in Martinique, noted that the worst damage occurred to cocoa, lime, and sugarcane crops. The Le Paix newspaper also stated that the island "l'a échappé belle" ("had a narrow escape"), with less impact than expected in the countryside due to the storm passing farther north than predicted.
Montserrat, just north of the storm's center, was warned in advance of the storm but still suffered £150,000 (just under $730,000 USD) in damages and 42 deaths; Plymouth and Salem were devastated, and crop losses caused near-starvation conditions before relief could arrive. Commissioner Herbert Walter Peebles described the latter as "flattened." The hurricane destroyed approximately of lime. All commercial and government buildings on the island were demolished, as were more than 600 homes, equivalent to about two-third of all residences on Montserrat. Three fatalities occurred on Saint Barthélemy. Saint Kitts and Nevis also suffered heavily. On the island of Saint Kitts, a number of homes built on wooden foundations were demolished. Approximately of rain fell, while barometric pressures fell to . Nine deaths were reported, six of which occurred in a schoolhouse collapse. Another five people went missing after the ship Prosperous sank. Thirteen people were killed on the island of Nevis, which reportedly suffered more damage than Saint Kitts. The storm destroyed hundreds of homes on Antigua, including a doctor's home and a "poor house". Government offices, hospitals, and school were also damaged. A reverend who experienced the cyclone remarked that "the whole place is simply wiped out and rendered absolutely destitute. It has to be completely rebuilt."