1928 Hurricane in Florida, picture of Harold Eugene Gifford and his sister Gladys Gifford Nagel.

The September 16, 1928 Hurricane in Florida.

The  1928 Hurricane that hit Florida and changed the lives of all that survived.  My Dad, Harold Eugene Gifford, 18 years old was part of the crew that helped clean up the catastrophe!  He belonged to the National

Guard and this was their job.   

Dad said they picked up bodies for weeks after, not knowing who they were.

It`s difficult burying people in the Glades. Something to do with the water table, locals say, and the peculiarities of muck. In a word, coffins float; it's hard to keep them in the ground.
But something had to be done with all those bodies. And it had to be done quickly.
``Bodies were stacked like cordwood,``  . ``Piled up like cordwood at the Pahokee dock. No caskets that I remember, just bodies.``

 In the beginning, a few dozen were sent to West Palm Beach, where a steam shovel dug a mass grave in Woodlawn Cemetery for the white victims. Hundreds of black farm workers (those living in shacks and shanties were virtually wiped out by the storm) were buried in a cemetery for blacks. Days later, a much bigger grave for more than 1,000 victims was dug in Port Maraca, 10 miles north of Canal Point, on higher, sandy soil.

In the end, that wasn't good enough or fast enough.
``After about the fifth day, we couldn't handle it, not with the heat and humidity. You couldn't identify them, and we had to burn them.
The bodies had to be destroyed; they were a hazard that threatened the very survival of the survivors.  History books tell of the stench of rotting flesh and of lime poured over decaying bodies, 
``In the Glades, with the humidity and rotting vegetation, you always had a certain stink in the air, . We had to use diesel fuel to help the bodies burn.``