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of the United States between September 10 and September 
20, 1928; 
Whereas on September 16, 1928, the Okeechobee Hurricane 
made landfall in the continental United States at Palm 
Beach County, Florida, and proceeded north over Lake 
Okeechobee, after which it decreased steadily in intensity 
before dying in Ontario, Canada; 
Whereas the Okeechobee Hurricane attained the highest classi-
fication of Category 5 for tropical cyclone intensity on the 
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, with winds exceeding 
160 miles per hour; 
Whereas the Okeechobee Hurricane is officially recognized by 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as 
the second deadliest hurricane on record in United States 
history, exacting the tragic loss of approximately 3,000 
lives in the United States and its territories; 
Whereas approximately 75 percent of fatalities from the Okee-
chobee Hurricane in the United States were migrant farm 
workers, the vast majority of which were African-Amer-
ican; 
Whereas the extensive impact of the Okeechobee Hurricane on 
African-American migrant workers in southern and cen-
tral Florida was memorialized in the famous 1937 literary 
work of Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching 
God; 
Whereas the Okeechobee Hurricane exacted horrendous damage 
valued at over $16,000,000,000, adjusted for inflation, to 
the infrastructure and towns of western Palm Beach Coun-
ty alone; 
Whereas many of those killed by the Okeechobee Hurricane in 
southern Florida were buried in segregated mass graves, 
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•HRES 1376 RH 
such as the more than 670 African-American victims in a 
mass grave in West Palm Beach; 
Whereas the Nation and the State of Florida have taken steps 
to respond to the Okeechobee Hurricane and other storm 
events with the construction of storm damage reduction 
projects to mitigate the loss of life and property; 
Whereas the Herbert Hoover Dike’s system surrounding Lake 
Okeechobee consists of 143 miles of levee with 19 culverts, 
hurricane gates, and other water control structures that 
provide flood and storm damage reduction and other water 
control benefits; 
Whereas on November 2, 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers 
Dam Safety Action Classification External Peer Review 
Panel designated the Herbert Hoover Dike with Class I 
designation of ‘‘urgent and compelling,’’ the highest risk 
category; 
Whereas a breach of the Herbert Hoover Dike or similarly des-
ignated structures throughout the Nation could potentially 
cause catastrophic loss of life and poses grave economic 
and environmental consequences to the surrounding com-
munities; and 
Whereas economically disadvantaged and migrant commu-
nities are at increased risk for extensive damage and loss 
of life associated with natural disasters: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) memorializes the tragic loss of more than 
4,000 lives in the United States and its territories 
due to the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928; 
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•HRES 1376 RH 
(2) recognizes the enduring importance of hur-
ricane preparedness measures, enhanced evacuation, 
emergency plans, and disaster response training in 
economically disadvantaged communities to prevent 
a disproportionate impact of natural disasters and 
disparities in disaster response; 
(3) recognizes the role of relevant Federal agen-
cies, research institutes, universities, and disaster re-
sponse organizations in providing intensity fore-
casting, long-range projections of hurricane activity, 
emergency management, and hurricane and storm 
mitigation to better prepare for, respond to, and 
mitigate the extensive loss of life and devastating 
impacts of hurricanes and storms; 
(4) fully supports initiatives to enhance our un-
derstanding of mitigation impacts on physical struc-
tures, including water management systems and 
other infrastructures that may be vulnerable to with-
stand the most intense of storms; 
(5) urges the Federal Government and State 
and local governments to— 
(A)
commemorate
and
memorialize
the 
80th anniversary of Okeechobee Hurricane of 
1928 and its associated tragic loss of more than 
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•HRES 1376 RH 
4,000 lives in the United States and its terri-
tories; 
(B) appropriately recognize mass graves of 
the victims of the Okeechobee Hurricane; 
(C) take appropriate actions to quickly re-
pair and rehabilitate dikes, water management 
systems, and other infrastructure in hurricane- 
prone regions designated by the Army Corps of 
Engineers with Class I ‘‘urgent and compel-
ling’’ vulnerability; 
(D) take appropriate actions to encourage 
hurricane and disaster preparedness, education, 
response, and mitigation; and 
(E) support programs and initiatives which 
promote disaster preparedness, education, re-
sponse, and mitigation in economically dis-
advantaged and migrant communities; and 
(6) recommits itself to hurricane preparedness, 
safety education, response, and mitigation for all 
communities in the 110th Congress. 
That the House of Representatives— 
(1) memorializes the tragic loss of approximately 
3,000 lives in the United States and its territories 
due to the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928; 
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•HRES 1376 RH 
(2) recognizes the enduring importance of hurri-
cane preparedness measures, enhanced evacuation, 
emergency plans, and disaster response training espe-
cially in economically disadvantaged communities to 
prevent a disproportionate impact of natural disas-
ters and disparities in disaster response; 
(3) recognizes the role of relevant Federal agen-
cies, research institutes, universities, and disaster re-
sponse organizations in providing intensity fore-
casting, long-range projections of hurricane activity, 
emergency management, and hurricane and storm 
damage reduction to better prepare for, respond to, 
and mitigate the extensive loss of life and devastating 
impacts of hurricanes and storms; 
(4) fully supports initiatives to enhance our un-
derstanding of storm impacts on physical structures, 
including water management systems and other in-
frastructure that may be vulnerable to the most in-
tense of storms; 
(5) urges the State of Florida and local govern-
ments to— 
(A) commemorate and memorialize the 80th 
anniversary of the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 
and its associated tragic loss of approximately 
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