Following the great Hurricane of 1926, which resulted in a horrendous loss of life after the less than adequate dikes around southern Lake Okeechobee gave way, the Federal Government built a series of very substantial dikes around the great lake that have successfully survived many a storm and hurricane for the last 87 years.
The reports below are the first time I know about since their construction that there has been serious worry about the Lake Okeechobee dike’s integrity. That shows just how MUCH rain has fallen in Florida this summer (and, I might add, on the rest of the Southeast as well).
Captain Gano is quite right, that, perish the thought, if the dikes should be breached, the entire Okeechobee Waterway would undoubtedly be closed. Depths would fall to record lows if this happened.
Stand by! The Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net will keep a very close eye on this situation!

I saw a report on Fox News today that there is concern for the integrity of the dikes on the western shore of the lake. If there was a breach, I imagine the Lake route would be closed.
Rich Gano
Calypso

Lake Okeechobee was at 15.7 ft today, still almost a foot over their target. We have been getting a lot of rain here in southern Florida. The other day one storm dropped 3-4 inches.
R.