The Museum of Miami is gearing up to present “Caught in the Eye: Remembering the 1926 Hurricane.” Starting Sept. 18, the new exhibition at 101 W Flagler St. will open exactly 100 years after a powerful hurricane tore through the young, rapidly growing city and forced Miami to rebuild from the gr ound up. A century later, the museum brings alive the 12-hour disaster through curated photographs, film, newspapers, and personal letters providing firsthand accounts of those who experienced it. Drawn from the museum’s archives, “Caught in the Eye” also explores the earliest recorded hurricanes in the Atlantic and Caribbean, placing Miami’s story within the region’s much longer history of devastating storms. Firsthand and secondhand accounts recount the 35-minute deceptive calm before landfall, the fury of the winds, and the false hope of the eye’s passage that caught so many residents off guard. By the summer of 1925, Miami’s real estate boom had reached its peak. By 1926, however, the boom had begun to cool. The hurricane did not cause the collapse, but as Museum of Miami resident historian and exhibition co-curator Dr. Paul George explains, it was “the nail in the city’s coffin.” The storm deepened its economic crisis and sent the city into a depression three years before the rest of the country experienced the Great DepressionWinds were estimated to exceed 130 mph, with gusts up to 150 mph. Most Miamians, many of them recent arrivals drawn by the boom, had never experienced a hurricane. On the eve of landfall, the city’s two major newspapers did not use the word “hurricane” in their coverage,” Dr. George said. Residents were unprepared for what was coming. One exception was federal weather forecaster Richard Gray, stationed near Northeast First Avenue and First Street, who had been trying to warn the public for days. “When the calm of the eye passed over at daybreak, Gray actually went back out to warn people that the worst was still ahead,” Dr. George said. “Imagine a weatherman frantically running up and down the streets yelling, ‘The storm isn’t over!’ Unfortunately, few people listened to his message.” Many residents mistook the stillness of the eye for the all-clear. People began driving toward the MacArthur Causeway to survey the damage, only to be caught when the second half of the storm, the strongest part, arrived. More than 100 people were killed, and about 40,000 were left homeless – nearly half the city’s population, he added. The American Red Cross contributed roughly $3 million to relief efforts and played a major role in the recovery. Cleanup was massive and citywide. In “Colored Town” – known today as Overtown – Black Miamians were forced under military authority to help clear wreckage across the city, work they had little choice but to perform, according to Dr. George. The exhibition also traces the storm’s lasting impact on Miami’s society, economy, and politics, as well as the lessons that have shaped how Greater Miami prepares for hurricanes today. From the storms of the mid-20th century to Hurricanes Donna and Andrew, the exhibition considers how a single disaster tested a young city – and how its people rebuilt with the curiosity, pride, and resilience that continue to define South Florida. “Every city has a moment that defines what came before and after. For Miami, that moment was Sept. 18, 1926,” added Natalia Crujeiras, CEO and executive director of the Museum of Miami. “As we mark the storm’s centennial, this exhibition is an opportunity to tell the whole story – the loss, the resilience, and the people whose labor and determination rebuilt this city – and to remember why that spirit still defines South Florida.” The post Museum of Miami to relive the 1926 Miami hurricane appeared first on Miami Today. ...read more read less