📞 (813) 730-8940
📞 (813) 730-8940
Chosen, a small Hillsboro Canal settlement community near Belle Glade and Pahokee, was specifically named among the communities through which the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 unleashed a wall of lake water when the earthen dams designed to hold back Lake Okeechobee failed entirely. According to Florida Memory's official historical documentation, this wall of water moved directly through Belle Glade, Pahokee, and Chosen as the storm pushed the swollen waters of Lake Okeechobee against its banks, with the area's makeshift coffins famously photographed stacked alongside the road between Belle Glade and Pahokee in the disaster's aftermath. As reports came in over the radio that a serious storm was lashing Puerto Rico in early September 1928, many Chosen-area locals decided they didn't have much to worry about, trusting that the levees and canals that had performed their duties thus far would continue to hold, a fatal miscalculation given what followed. We are a Florida state-licensed mold remediation team.
Chosen's position as a small Hillsboro Canal settlement community near Belle Glade and Pahokee placed it directly within the documented path of catastrophic destruction during the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Florida Memory's official historical archive specifically names Chosen, alongside Belle Glade and Pahokee, as one of the communities through which this disaster unleashed a wall of lake water when the earthen dams specifically designed to hold back Lake Okeechobee failed entirely under the storm's pressure.
The human toll of this specific local devastation was captured in one of the disaster's most enduring and somber historical images, makeshift coffins photographed stacked alongside the road between Belle Glade and Pahokee, a visual record that has become emblematic of this catastrophe's human cost throughout the broader Chosen area. This documentation provides a uniquely tangible historical connection to understanding the genuine severity this small community experienced.
Perhaps the most instructive aspect of Chosen's documented history involves the community's pre-storm response, as radio reports began arriving about a serious storm lashing Puerto Rico in early September 1928, many locals in this area decided they didn't have much to worry about, reasoning that since the levees and canals had performed their duties thus far, they would continue to hold. This proved to be a fatal miscalculation given what actually followed, the storm's surge overwhelmed these same protective structures with catastrophic results. For Chosen-area homeowners today, this documented historical lesson, about the genuine risk of assuming existing flood infrastructure will always perform as it has in the past, remains a relevant consideration alongside standard professional mold inspection following any significant regional weather event.
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Most jobs range from $1,800 to $6,000. Lake Okeechobee area properties often fall in the $2,500 to $5,500 range depending on proximity to water and specific conditions. Free on-site inspection and written estimate before any work begins.
The specific historical lesson from Chosen, that residents trusted existing levee and canal infrastructure to continue performing as it always had, only to have that same infrastructure fail catastrophically during an unprecedented storm event, remains genuinely instructive nearly a century later. This illustrates the importance of not assuming any flood protection infrastructure, however reliable it has been historically, guarantees protection during a sufficiently extreme future event, a consideration relevant for any property in this historically significant Lake Okeechobee area.
Yes, the Herbert Hoover Dike represents a substantially more robust engineering response than the small earthen dams that failed catastrophically in 1928, incorporating modern engineering standards and ongoing Army Corps of Engineers oversight and maintenance. However, this improved infrastructure doesn't eliminate the fundamental lesson from Chosen's documented history, continued awareness of current dike conditions and regional flood risk guidance remains important for any property in this historically significant area.
Serving all of Chosen including the Lake Okeechobee area, the Hillsboro Canal settlement, and all of Palm Beach County. Same-day appointments available. 24/7 emergency response.