state’s coastline, following State Road 7 and passing over Miami,
Opa-locka, West Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.
The hurricane caused
massive flooding, structural damage and destruction of the citrus
crop. It also prevented the Fort Lauderdale News from
publishing — for the only time in its history.
Like all newspapers
of the era, the News, an afternoon newspaper that was the
precursor to the Sun-Sentinel, was printed using linotype
machines and molten lead.
Thanks to Cleo, the power was out so long
the News could not melt lead to form news type. News
employees were trapped inside overnight.
Years later, veteran
newsman Scott Marshall recalled, “We slept on the floor, the desk
tops, whatever. We had all this copy written but we never did
publish,“
You can read the front page
message about Cleo from the News here.
Cleo cut power to
620,000 homes and businesses. Much like Hurricane Andrew later,
Cleo left a lasting mark on the community.
Landmarks, such as
Storyland, a popular children’s theme park on South Federal Highway
in Pompano Beach, were destroyed and never rebuilt.
Residents who
had been complacent about hurricane preparation rushed to buy
shutters. Cleo, a Category 2 storm with winds of 110 mph, was one
of nine named storms that year.
Track
the storm.
