The aftermath: 1928 Hurricane from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

Below is rare footage that will give everyone an idea how much damage a direct strike by a powerful hurricane can do (more historical background is below):



The video begins as the storm diminished in strength enough for the cameraman to walk around and take this film footage. You will see a lot of the Breakers Hotel which was only three years old at the time. Its Circle Dining Room was under construction. You will see the initial recovery efforts and then the film jumps to four days, then a month, and then a year after the storm.

Also prominently featured is the former Royal Poinciana Hotel which was Henry Flagler’s grand wooden hotel. You get the sense of its enormity. Unfortunately, it was torn down in the 1930s, but you can get glimpses of it here in all its past glory.

The storm itself is referred to as the Okeechobee Hurricane due in large part to the death toll it caused around the southern part of Lake Okeechobee. This hurricane was prior to them being given names. It remains the second deadliest hurricane to hit the United States.