Four days after the Labor Day Hurricane, September 6th, 1935, Florida Governor David Scholtz ordered that the cremation of victims’ bodies begin in order to combat the spread of disease. Twenty-four cremation sites were utilized between Plantation Key and Lower Matecumbe. Funeral pyres constructed with wooden coffins stacked one atop another and doused with fuel were set aflame. Funeral services were overseen by a rabbi, priest, Protestant minister, civilian officials, and National Guardsmen. A bugler blew taps. A twenty-one gun salute echoed through the air.
Officially, 408 lives were taken by the great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, most of them World War I veterans working in the Keys where the hurricane made its first landfall. The second landfall at Cedar Key saw 3 deaths and widespread damage.
Cremation of hurricane victims, Snake Creek landing, Plantation Key, FL, Sept. 7, 1935
No comments:
Post a Comment