Across South Florida, the storm produced widespread rainfall of up to 15 inches (380 mm) and severe flooding, among the worst ever recorded in the area, that led to efforts by the United States Congress to improve drainage in the region.

On the same day as that of the seeding, the cyclone slowed dramatically and turned westward, making landfall on the morning of October 15 south of Savannah, Georgia.

Across the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, the small hurricane produced tides up to 12 feet (3.7 m) and significant damage to 1,500 structures, but the death toll was limited to one person.

[nb 2] At 18:00 UTC on October 8, a tropical depression developed in the Intertropical Convergence Zone about 65 miles (105 km) west-northwest of Isla de Providencia, Colombia, near 13°30′N 82°18′W / 13.5°N 82.3°W / 13.5; -82.3.

At 07:00 UTC October 11, the deepening tropical cyclone made landfall near La Coloma, Pinar del Río Province, with winds of 65 mph (100 km/h).

After crossing the western portion of the island, the cyclone underwent robust intensification over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, with most of its strengthening occurring in under four hours.

[11][nb 3] Shortly before 08:00 UTC it entered the Atlantic Ocean near Hillsboro Inlet Light, which experienced the center of a hurricane for the second time in a month, with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h).

Over the next day, the storm slowed substantially and began veering landward, executing a semicircular turn northward and westward, a trajectory that threatened the Southeastern United States.

Six hours later it attained its peak of 105 mph (165 km/h), which it maintained until landfall around 11:00 UTC near Ossabaw Island, approximately 15 mi (24 km) south of Savannah.

[4][8] The lowest pressure in the eye at landfall was estimated to have been near 965 mb (28.5 inHg), based in part on a report from a ship just offshore more than eight hours earlier.

[7] Upon striking southernmost Florida, the cyclone only produced $75,000 in wind-related losses, largely due to its having struck an area hit by the more powerful September hurricane.

[22][27] In Boca Raton, homes in the historic Old Floresta district that housed Army Air Field soldiers were flooded in up to 8 in (200 mm) of water.

[29][24] Having been isolated by the floods, deer, rattlesnakes, and other wildlife, along with horses and cattle, sought shelter upon the remaining exposed ground, particularly levee banks.

"[30] The rains from the storms followed an abnormally wet rainy season in the spring of 1947 that raised the water table to dangerous levels and by July forced several emergency meetings by the Everglades Drainage District (EDD) to address widespread flooding.

[27][29] Despite the measures, which resulted in the opening of floodgates to relieve flooded farmlands by diverting water through back-pumping to Lake Okeechobee, lack of funding hampered efforts by EDD Chief Engineer Lamar Johnson to address the situation.

[27] In the region, 5,000,000 acres (2,000,000 ha; 7,800 sq mi; 20,000 km2) of land were flooded as abnormally high coastal tides prevented water from being released through canals to the Atlantic Ocean.

[34][35] In July 1946, General Electric (GE) scientists concluded after experimentation that dry ice seeding could induce heavy rainfall and thus ultimately weaken storms by cooling temperatures in the eye.

While the move the leading GE scientist, Irving Langmuir, later blamed upon the seeding,[37] subsequent examination of the environment surrounding the storm determined that a large upper-level ridge was in fact responsible for the abrupt turn, which imitated that of a hurricane in 1906.