The devastation brought by the hurricane resulted in the end of Florida's land boom, and represented an early start to the Great Depression in the state.

As a result of scattered observations at open sea, however, no ship encountered the storm until September 15, by which time it had reached major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands.

[7] However, the cyclone is first listed in HURDAT—the official Atlantic hurricane database—as having begun as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) roughly 1,100 mi (1,800 km) east of the island of Martinique in the Lesser Antilles on September 11.

Although no official minimum pressure readings were taken in the area at the time, the tropical cyclone peaked in wind-based intensity at 18:00 UTC on September 16 with sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), near the uppermost limit of the modern-day ranking Category 4.

[6][10] At the time, the hurricane was very large in size, with a radius of outermost closed isobar 375 mi (604 km) across;[11] hurricane-force winds were reported from the upper Florida Keys to near St. Lucie County.

The hurricane had weakened over South Florida as a result of land interaction, but re-strengthened after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico off Punta Rassa six hours later.

[8][7] The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed for the tropical cyclone to reach a secondary peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) on September 20, equivalent to that of a modern-day high-end Category 3 hurricane.

Although the storm had taken a more northwesterly course through the gulf, the hurricane later began paralleling the coast of the Florida Panhandle and thus slowly curved westward.

[8] As a result, the major hurricane, now weakening quickly, made its second landfall near Perdido Beach, Alabama, at around 21:30 UTC that day with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h).

[8] On September 16, the United States Weather Bureau advised caution to ships tracking in Bahamian waters and the Florida Strait.

Warnings along the United States Eastern Seaboard eventually stretched as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, upon the storm's first landfall.

Additional warnings were posted for the United States Gulf Coast on September 19 and covered coastal areas from Apalachicola, Florida, to Burrwood, Louisiana.

[6] Although the official number of fatalities would later be revised downward,[1] initial estimates suggested that the death toll would likely be over 1,000 in Miami alone with an additional 2,000 injured.

"Knee-deep" water east of U.S. Route 1 (Federal Highway) in Boca Raton blocked beach access, but residents waded through.

[39] Meanwhile, large waves left much debris and sand drifts several feet deep on State Road A1A in Delray Beach.

[40] High tides piled debris on the streets of Palm Beach, caused a beachfront boardwalk to collapse, and exacerbated previous damage from the July hurricane.

[27] Many historic structures throughout South Florida sustained significant damage, including the Barnacle and the Villa Vizcaya, where the yacht Nepenthe and fishing boat Psyche were sunk.

The storm flooded the surrounding citrus crop and agricultural fields south of Miami, particularly near Homestead and Florida City,[47]destroying half of the citrus-bearing trees in the area.

[20] Much of the citrus crop in Dania was a total loss as floodwaters submerged the area to depths of 6 ft (1.8 m); flooding lingered for more than a week after the storm.

[48] A storm surge from Lake Okeechobee entirely inundated Clewiston, reportedly leaving numerous bodies along the road connecting the city with Miami.

[4] Two years later, another Category 4 hurricane killed at least 2,500 people along Lake Okeechobee, but mostly affected the eastern shore, leaving Moore Haven largely unscathed.

A peak storm tide of 11 to 12 ft (3.4 to 3.7 m) affected Punta Rassa and the islands of Captiva and Sanibel, causing $3,000,000 in flood damage.

Strong winds uprooted trees in St. Petersburg, while heavy rainfall caused flooding in the outlying districts of nearby Tampa.

[20] South of the eye, a storm tide of 8 ft (2.4 m) submerged the streets of Everglades City, forcing people into the upper stories of buildings.

Although the hurricane weakened before striking the upper Gulf Coast, its slow movement produced substantial effects to coastal regions between Mobile and Pensacola; these areas experienced heavy damage from wind, rain, and storm surge.

[20] Soup kitchens were set up in Miami's business district in order to serve food to the recently displaced and as a source for clean drinking water that was contaminated in other areas.

[57] Afterwards, then-U.S. president Calvin Coolidge placed the United States Army and Coast Guard on standby should relief efforts necessitate their presence in Florida and the Bahamas.

The National Guard of the United States dispatched several companies of guardsmen to disaster areas following urgent appeals from then-Florida governor John W.

[1] Even the estimates for the United States are uncertain and vary, since there were many people, especially transients and colored migrants in South Florida, listed as "missing".

In Boca Raton, for instance, one planned community by Addison Mizner, called Villa Rica, was destroyed by the hurricane and never rebuilt.