The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane: The Veterans, the Rescue Train & the Strongest Storm

S3E34 - The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane: The Veterans, the Rescue Train & the Strongest Storm

Published: September 7, 2026

Duration: 43:36

On Labor Day 1935, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States exploded into a Category 5 storm and slammed into the Florida Keys with estimated sustained winds of 185 mph and a central pressure of 892 mb, the lowest pressure assigned to a U.S. hurricane landfall.

But this disaster is about much more than the storm itself. Hundreds of World War I veterans were living in federal work camps along the Keys, and an evacuation train sent from Miami reached Islamorada just as catastrophic winds and storm surge arrived.

In this episode of...