National Geographic Seeks Hurricane Related Answers from Us

About 2,500 people died in 1928 when water from Florida's Lake Okeechobee inundated their communities during a hurricane, making it one of the worst natural disasters in United States history.

Hurricanes have crossed or passed near the lake since the 1928 disaster. None of the storms has penetrated the massive dike or pushed water over its top. But the dike has begun to leak.

The leaks and recent active hurricane seasons have caused lakeside residents to keep a closer eye on the dike. Could tragedy strike again? National Geographic news wanted to know, so they turned to Civil and Environmental Engineering national storm surge expert Dr. Scott Hagen, who said it's unlikely the dike will fail because of a hurricane.

"If they keep the water at the appropriate level in Lake Okeechobee, the chances of having water surging up and over the dike are very, very low," he said.

But it's not out of the question. If a tropical storm dumped several feet of rain over Florida, the water level in Lake Okeechobee could rise dramatically, Hagen said. And if a hurricane with winds of 120 miles an hour or more crossed the lake a few days later, "I could envision the water overtopping the dikes," he said. "Would the dikes hold up if that happened? There's no way of knwing," Hagen said.