The effects of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in Florida included at least 2,500 fatalities in the state of Florida, making this the second deadliest tropical cyclone in the history of the contiguous United States, behind only the 1900 Galveston hurricane. The hurricane originated from a tropical depression that formed near Dakar, Senegal, on September 6. Traversing the Atlantic Ocean, the cyclone struck the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas as a powerful hurricane. Early on September 17, the storm made landfall near West Palm Beach, Florida, as a Category 4 hurricane on the modern day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Thereafter, it moved further inland across the Southeastern United States and became extratropical over North Carolina on September 20, before the remnants lost their identity over Ontario on September 21.