After passing over or near Nassau, the cyclone began to lose intensity, and on July 28 impacted the First Coast of Florida with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h).

Once inland, the storm quickly degenerated over the Southeastern United States, and became extratropical on July 31; it dissipated near the Great Lakes region a couple of days later.

The worst to impact New Providence and the city of Nassau since 1866, the cyclone ravaged the Bahaman archipelago, destroying roughly 20% of the sponging fleet there, flattening entire communities on many of the islands, and causing as many as 400 fatalities.

10 deaths were reported in the state of Florida, though high tides and prolific rains extended farther north, along the Southeastern coastline.

At 06:00 UTC on July 22, the Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT) initialized a weak tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h), 200 miles (320 kilometres) east of Barbados, an outpost of the Windward Islands.

Entering the eastern Caribbean early on July 23, it became a minimal hurricane six hours later, and gradually intensified to its first peak of 105 mph (165 km/h) by 18:00 UTC.

As it did so, the cyclone began turning northwestward, toward the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico, and made landfall over present-day Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge early on July 24.

[4] Over the next day, the cyclone crossed the Mona Passage and skirted the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic; in the meantime its winds decreased to 85 mph (140 km/h) due to interaction with Hispaniola.

Sideswiping the Indian River, the storm continued to gradually weaken, and made landfall near New Smyrna at 10:00 UTC on July 28.

Late on July 30, the depression began curving northward over Mississippi, and spent nearly three additional days heading northeastward.

[16] As the hurricane neared South Florida, the Miami-area crew of the 75-foot-long (23 m) cruising yacht Cinnabar sought shelter in the Bimini Islands during an excursion there.

[18] On July 27 the Weather Bureau extended the hurricane warning north to Jacksonville, Florida, and to Charleston, South Carolina, a day later.

All the rivers in the south of Puerto Rico, including the Arecibo, Guacio, Loíza, Bayamón, La Plata, Yauco, Peñuelas, and Manatí, overflowed their banks.

[34] In the Dominican Republic the storm inflicted $3 million in losses, mainly due to flash flooding, as heavy rains caused watercourses to overtop their banks.

[44] On Eleuthera, the storm felled coconut and other fruit crops; strong winds and high tides leveled 240 dwellings, 14 churches, and two schools.

[57] Roy W. Miner, curator of lower invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History, wrote that royal palms were shorn of their crowns, save but a few fronds, "like roosters after a cockfight"; he also noted that winds crumpled steel telegraph poles "as if made of tin", blew down centuries-old trees, and "reduced to kindling" frame buildings.

[58] According to the The Nassau Guardian, fierce winds flayed automobile roofs, turning them into "ribbons", and chiseled the cars' enamel; the effect on the vehicles' paint mimicked "the fire of blow lamps".

[60] At Adelaide Village the storm destroyed all but a single dwelling, along with the local churches, forcing their occupants to sleep underneath debris.

[nb 7][70] South of Miami the cyclone damaged citrus groves and felled two-thirds of the ripe avocados,[71] the latter of which incurred a loss of $100,000 as a result.

[75] An apartment complex, the Gulf Stream, on North Beach sustained several thousand dollars in losses due to wind and tide.

The storm tore a mobile diving board on the property loose from its mooring and hurled it against a camber, resulting in its being damaged; the platform had been tethered to an anchor by a pair of 1-inch-thick (2.5 cm) steel cables.

[79] The shoreline had also migrated landward to the sidewalks on Fort Lauderdale Beach,[78] and at least 1⁄2 ft (0.15 m) of sand, along with portions of a seawall and other debris, covered Ocean Drive.

Winds at West Palm Beach, backing from northeast to southwest, ranged from 70 to 80 mph (115 to 130 km/h), and pressures dipped to 29.02 inHg (983 mb) at 14:30 UTC on July 27.

The right annex of the El Bit-Lor was drenched in rain as tiles were blown off at spots, latticework ripped apart, and screens destroyed, allowing fallen plaster to damage furniture below.

[98] At Cocoa the eye of the hurricane passed overhead at 04:45 UTC on July 28, being accompanied by a lull in the wind and a central pressure of 28.89 inHg (978 mb).

50 lampposts were blown over at the southern tip of Merritt Island,[101] where a cooperative weather observatory sampled a minimum atmospheric pressure of 28.80 inHg (975 mb), along with rainfall of 10.40 in (264 mm), the highest measured in the state during the storm.

[110] Once inland over North and Central Florida, the cyclone continued to generate strong winds that flattened crops, agricultural outbuildings, and trees.

[111] In the Gulf of Mexico, west of the Florida peninsula, half a dozen people vanished at sea off Apalachicola and were presumed dead.

[112] Up to 1 ft (0.33 yd; 0.30 m) of water filled the streets of downtown Savannah, blocking trolley underpasses, while strong winds blew in windows.

[113] Soggy earth gave way near Brooklet, causing a locomotive to slide into a ditch and killing its operator, J. N. Shearhouse, president of the Sherwood Railroad.