Florida's Great Hurricane/Chapter 14

AFTER the hurricane had passed the street department of the City of Miami faced the most imposing task of its existence, one that would have caused many a street superintendent to pale and falter. Those streets lying in the vicinity of the Miami River and along Biscayne Bay near the mouth of the river, and also near the County Causeway were covered with black mud and seaweed. The mud was a fine, sticky silt that had been left by the waters when they receded, and was almost as difficult to handle as molasses. At Miami Beach the street department had sand to contend with. The beach had been washed in and distributed over the streets in layers ranging in depth from three to five feet, but removing sand was a lark compared to the job of cleaning the Miami streets of mud. Nearly two thousand laborers, 400 trucks, many tractors, graders and steam shovels were engaged in the work of cleaning up, and the cost to the city was about $100,000.

Hundreds of coconut and Australian pine trees had been blown into the streets, and those which had fallen in yards and on lawns were dumped into the streets to be carted away. All trees that were left standing had been stripped and denuded, and this mass of debris added to the burdens of the street cleaners. Special squads were detailed for this work, and other squads were put at collecting the dead fish, which were found everywhere along the water fronts and some times hundreds of yards inland. The removal of this odoriferous offal of the storm was one of prime importance.

The removal of tons of shattered glass, plaster, broken laths and disintegrated concrete was a large item in the sum total of the week's labor, for a week after the extra army of street cleaners had started work the streets were passable and presentable. Most of the debris was burned and that which was not combustible was dumped into pits. The completion of the task was assumed by the sanitary department.

Every department of the city was crowded with demands upon its resources and personnel. The fire department extinguished 1,500 fires in five days. This work was done by a fire patrol charged with the duty of watching trash fires. It was a wise precautionary measure. The storm left hundreds of cesspools in the suburban districts out of order, and these had to be pumped out. This was only one of ​numerous disorders caused by the storm. Everything seemed the matter with everything for a while, and that is why Miami's resilency in achieving such a rapid recovery is cause for genuine wonder.

No sooner had the storm passed than people began to repair their houses. Roofs, screens and windows were the objects demanding first attention. There were not many roofs that did not suffer damage, and thousands were blown off, hence the demand for roofing was urgent. The entire stock of roofing material was sold out in a day or two, and rush orders for needed supplies were dispatched, but in spite of the stocks that were purchased and delivered the demand continued. Dealers worked early and late, but no matter how early they opened their doors they would find a long line of customers waiting.

The City Commissioners voluntarily waived building permits for repairs for thirty days. Mechanics and laborers from other states rushed to Miami looking for work, but the influx became so great that the City Manager soon announced that the number of workers on the ground was able to cope with the situation, and inquirers were told that it would be unwise to come to Miami, particularly those applicants in South Dakota and other far distant States who wrote in advance of their plans to seek employment here. All of the large construction jobs in progress at the time of the hurricane already were manned, and forces immediately marshaled to repair damaged buildings in the down town district. Those residents who were able to do so started repairing as soon as materials were obtainable but there were many who could not do so, and there are many in Miami who still are homeless, so far as being under their own roofs is concerned. It was estimated that 25,000 were left without homes. Relief work provided some of these with temporary shelter and others were taken in by friends and relatives. Still others departed for their former homes, or went away to visit with relatives until their homes could be restored.

In some respects the hurricane will prove to have been of much solid value to Miami, and to all other stricken areas. More stringent building regulations will be enforced by closer inspection, and kindred improvements will be made in the enforcement of sanitary laws. Already the health department has put a ban upon rebuilding shack tourist camps, all of which were a mass of ruins after the storm, and the huts and hutches where food was sold which had been so numerous ​about town, and along the roadsides leading out of town, have been condemned.

The collapse of so many buildings was due primarily to poor construction. The wonder is rather that so many stood up than that so many went down. After viewing the ruins it was easy to see that the greater number of those that fell lacked storm bracing; that the concrete and stucco used in them had been of inferior mixture, and that roofs had been laid on instead of being anchored to the walls. After seeing this it is not difficult for one, even a novice, to conclude that such construction should never have been allowed.