September 2, 1935. The strongest hurricane to make landfall in recorded US history comes ashore in the upper Florida keys. Known as the "Labor Day Hurricane", it killed over 400 people, many of them veterans working in the WPA camps.
The following photos are from the Florida archives:
The following photos are from the Florida archives:
Soldiers assisting with the disposition of bodies of victims of the 1935 hurricane - Snake Creek, Florida
After
the big storm, active Army units were assigned to search the
shoreline, tidal creeks, and other likely areas where bodies might
have been blown or washed up in the final stages of the hurricane.
World War I veterans in a rehabilitation camp, a remnant of the Bonus
Army that marched on Washington, were employed for highway
construction in the federal work relief project when they perished.
The crude boxes are makeshift caskets, containing bodies for
cremation. Servicemen on the right stand ready for a final salute to
veterans who died in the hurricane. Religious services were performed
by Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish clergy. The bodies of over 250
veterans were cremated on the banks of Snake Creek, between
Islamorada and Tavernier.
Rescue train swept off the tracks by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane
The hurricane washed this eleven car special train off the track soon after reaching the strickened area. The train was trying to rescue 683 World War I veterans in a rehabilitation camp, of which around 250 died as a result of the hurricane. The veterans, a remnant of the Bonus Army that marched on Washington, were employed for highway construction in the federal work relief project.
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