Skip to main content
Back to Show
American Experience

The Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928

In the summer of 1928, heavy rainfall raised Lake Okeechobee’s water level three feet above normal. That fall, a hurricane smashed the coast of Florida, and the impact flooded Lake Okeechobee. The inland flood obliterated 21 miles of the 47-mile earthen and an estimated 2,500 people died in Southern Florida, most of them migrant farm workers.

Support Provided By
Season
Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act
53:00
The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.
Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:47
The story of one of the most influential yet forgotten civil rights figures, Walter White.
American Experience Season 36
1:51:27
The little-known story of the deadly 1898 race massacre and coup d’etat in Wilmington, NC.
The American Vice President
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:36
A look at the US vice presidency, from constitutional afterthought to position of political import.
The Riot Report
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:04
When US inner cities erupted in violence in 1967, LBJ created a commission to investigate.
The Environment
1:52:30
The story of housewives who led a grassroots movement to galvanize the Superfund Bill.
The Cancer Detectives
52:54
The untold story of the people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer.
Fly with Me
1:52:39
The lively but neglected history of the women who changed the world while flying it.
Nazi Town, USA
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:32
The story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active across the US in the 1930s.
American Experience Season 35
Unlock with PBS Passport
51:27
Explore the culture war that erupted over the spectacular rise of disco music.
The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools
1:47:20
The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
The Busing Battleground
1:52:38
Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
Active loading indicator