and battled on to save the two that remained alive. Shortly afterward the oldest boy, Oliver, was torn away from my wife and carried off in another direction. A cross tie floated by and he climbed upon it. As the current carried him on, the cross tie floated by the body of his baby sister, Eleanor. Oliver reached down and raised the baby's head. Seeing she was dead, he let her go and she floated out of sight, half supported by the inner tube.
"About 4 o'clock in the afternoon a current carried my wife to the home of a neighbor named Steers. She and 7-year-old Laverne, the only child remaining with her, were taken in and made as comfortable as possible. That night Oliver, who had floated to a high spot on one of the canal banks, waded back after the water had gone down and found his mother."
"Marshal Howell dabbed at his eyes. 'It's mighty hard to lose almost half of your little family, but I'm mighty proud of that wife of mine,' he concluded. Mrs. Howell, Laverne and Oliver were taken to LaBelle where they are staying with relatives. They are none the worse, physically, for their harrowing experience."
A few of the more substantial structures were standing after the storm, including the court house, school house, the Odd Fellows Hall, the Masonic building, the hotel and a few residences.
Relief expeditions were sent out from Tampa, Fort Myers, Orlando, Avon Park and Sebring. Red Cross established headquarters at Sebring where several hundred refugees were given shelter.
The number of dead was estimated by the editor of the Everglades News, who viewed the scene and had first hand communication with survivors, at 300, though he added that the total number of victims probably would never be known. The official count of those who perished was 150. Some of the bodies recovered were so decomposed that it was impossible to determine if they were black or white.
Such is the tragic story of Moore Haven. Frequent complaints had been made to the State Drainage Board that the locks should not be kept closed but it seems that no heed was given. The water released probably would have reduced the lake to a point where the disaster of September 18 might have been averted. The flood raised a commotion among the inhabitants of the lake towns with the result that a letter was sent to President Coolidge asking that the control of the lake level be placed under the War Department.
As a direct result of this activity following the storm, the Secretary of War directed the United States engineer who has supervision of this district, Lieut. Col. Mark L. Brooke, to make a survey of the
