The Great Hurricane
WHEN first I thought of writing a story of the Great Hurricane, which left a wide path of destruction across the Florida peninsula the morning of Saturday, September 18th, 1926, it seemed that such a book might have a large sale, provided it could be published upon the heel of the storm, but the obstacles in the way of doing this were so obvious that I did not entertain the idea.
In the first place it was impossible to collect data sufficiently complete to make such a story valuable as a permanent record, and I could not bring myself to view the enterprise in such a mercenary light as to publish a hurriedly written account.
I do not wish it to be inferred from this that I am setting up any claim to absolute accuracy or completeness for the story herewith presented. Even as I write, two weeks after the disaster, I am conscious that there is much of interest, no doubt, that has not come to light. The Citizens' Relief Committee, which was organized immediately following the storm, has turned affairs over to the Red Cross, and that organization itself has terminated what is termed "bulk relief," and all requisitions for individual relief are now being made in regular form. So the Florida storm has passed definitely into history, though Red Cross probably will not complete its work for several months. More space is being given at this time in the newspapers to the World Series than to the hurricane, and yet, so far as I know, no comprehensive narrative has been published.
Newspapers and magazines hardly could undertake such a task, though many writers performed creditable and courageous service during and after the storm. They deserve the highest praise for their daring and painstaking labor. Yet withal, the manner in which their accounts were published caused them to be fragmentary, hence there is a hiatus to be filled if the Great Hurricane is to have its proper place in history as one of the most destructive attacks ever visited by angry elements upon the lives and works of men.
I do not hesitate to say that estimates of damage probably have been the veriest guess work. It is likely, also, that the full number of those whose lives were lost never will be accurately known. The best that can be done under the circumstances is to accept such re
