Tampa Hurricane of 1921

[Cookiely]

A Flood Of Memories

By LELAND HAWES Tribune correspondent

Published: Apr 2, 2006


After two years of too many hurricanes, the approach of another summer storm season already has Floridians jittery. Imagine if they remembered the last direct hit Tampa took, on Oct. 25, 1921, when a storm surge came barreling down the bay.

Charles Delvalle was 7 years old when cascading waves delivered devastating blows to his family's home on the eastern side of Palmetto Beach, fronting on McKay Bay.

Now 91 and in excellent health ("The only medication I take is a baby aspirin every day"), Delvalle recalled recently that day when the winds and water began rising in the usually peaceful bay.

Although weatherman Walter Bennett had warned, in that morning's Tampa Tribune, "We are apparently in the path of the storm," few residents realized the seriousness of the potential threat. Not since 1848 had there been a hurricane of major consequence in Tampa.

The Delvalle family already had experienced the destruction of one home, when a major fire razed large portions of Ybor City. With their possessions wiped out in the fire, family members moved south to Palmetto Beach's DeSoto Park section.

Father Ramon Delvalle, a cigar maker by trade, raised oranges, chickens and cows on several acres he acquired near the DeSoto Park Elementary School. His wife, Rosalia, looked after the growing family - eventually five boys and five girls.

The one-story frame house built on pillars had an added attraction for the kids: plenty of fish and oysters just a few feet away in the bay. Delvalle remembers a stone seawall as well as a dock, old boats, a rowboat and a sailboat along the shoreline.

"We could catch all the fish we wanted, and there was an oyster bar 100 feet offshore," he said.

His sister, Victoria "Vic" Kreher, 5 years old when the storm struck, said their mother would clean fish for supper many a night.

The family took refuge in the house as the winds picked up and heavy rains signaled the onset of a severe storm, Delvalle said.

Palmetto Beach especially was imperiled because of the presence of hundreds of cedar logs, 6 to 8 feet long, cabled together at a dock on Bermuda Boulevard, on the western side of the peninsula. The logs had been brought in by barge to be turned into cigar boxes at the Tampa Box Co. on Second Avenue in Ybor City.

As gale winds broke the chains loose, the logs became battering rams. Houses on that side of Palmetto Beach shattered under the onslaught of crushing water and ramrod logs.

The Delvalle home on the eastern side began breaking up as well, as stray logs bounced over the seawall. Charles Delvalle said somebody in the area warned, "You'd better get out!" so the family assembled in a flat-bed wagon pulled by a horse.

They escaped north along 22nd Street, eventually reaching safety in Ybor City - but not without some frightening moments. Where the railroad tracks crossed 22nd Street, at today's Adamo Drive, "There was a big dip in the road, the water was deep and the horse had to swim across," Delvalle remembered.

Not until the next day could the family return home.

"All the bottom of the house had been hit," he said. "Siding was completely off up to 3 or 4 feet. The house was crushed against the monster oak trees in our yard. They kept it from floating away."

But their home was uninhabitable.

The only other house in the vicinity was owned by Mary Murray, principal at DeSoto Park School. "Her house was gone, too," Delvalle said.

"One of the seagoing tugs wound up in our front yard," he added.

Another casualty was a 20-foot sailboat moored on the Delvalle property by a wealthy family. It was smashed.

In the aftermath, the Delvalles - like other victims of the hurricane - were forced to find quarters with neighbors and relatives before renting an interim house. There was neither insurance nor federal aid.

Eventually, Ramon Delvalle built a house at 2628 Clark St. in Palmetto Beach during off-hours from his job at the Corina cigar factory.

The house had three bedrooms and two baths and cost $1,700, Charles Delvalle said.

He still owns a pedal-operated sewing machine, one of the few items saved from the wrecked house on McKay Bay. "My mother was able to use it after the storm," he said.

The land where they once lived became a tourist campground, a phenomenon of that period. "Tin Can Tourists" driving Model T Fords known as Tin Lizzies flocked to DeSoto Park every winter.

As for the unnamed hurricane of 1921, it probably would have been considered a Category 2 by today's standards. Winds gusted to 100 mph.

"Water did the damage," Delvalle said. "The Bayshore and downtown were under water." In some places, the water rose 10 1/2 feet.

As for Delvalle, retired but still active after a successful business career, he lives in a waterfront home in Tampa.

[gatorcane]

Not a whole lot of storms that year but the 1921 Tampa Bay storm made up for it. I hope this scenario doesn't happen for a long time because Tampa Bay is extremely vulnerable to surge. The worst case is IF the eye of the storm tracks just west over Pinellas county (like Charley was forecasted to do).

[cheezyWXguy]

what was so bad about it? According to wunderground's archive it was a high CAT 1 or CAT 2

[HurricaneHunter914]

I have a question. How we have memories of the Tampa Bay Hurricane if barely any of us have lived to see it?

[Cookiely]

what was so bad about it? According to wunderground's archive it was a high CAT 1 or CAT 2

10 feet of water covered dowtown and Bayshore Blvd where the most beautiful homes were located. I would call that bad.

[Extremeweatherguy]

according to the above map, the storm was a Cat. 2/3

[cheezyWXguy]

what was so bad about it? According to wunderground's archive it was a high CAT 1 or CAT 2

10 feet of water covered dowtown and Bayshore Blvd where the most beautiful homes were located. I would call that bad.

sry...I forgot how low in elevation tampa is...I was there over spring break...Its so weird how low they build their bridges...theyre like 8 fett above the water

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Scary Scenario- Weakening Category 3 hitting Tampa Bay after
being a Category 4 over the GOM would contain serious surge

Something like that today would not be a pretty picture at all.

[Patrick99]

It looks like it did the "weaken before landfall" thing that the upper Gulf Coast is famous for. Of course, it was still bringing that big-time surge.