Okeechobee County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,996. The county seat is Okeechobee.
The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the neotropic ecozone. The ecosystem it forms is not presently found anywhere else on earth. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The Everglades experience a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season. The Seminole Tribe gave the large body of water the name Okeechobee meaning "River of Grass" to describe the sawgrass marshes, part of a complex system of interdependent ecosystems that include cypress swamps, the estuarine mangrove forests of the Ten Thousand Islands, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rockland, and the marine environment of Florida Bay. Throughout the 20th century, the Everglades suffered significant loss of habitat and environmental degradation.
Canal Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Canal Point is located along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee, to the northeast of Pahokee and to the northwest of Bryant. The unincorporated community was originally inhabited by the Calusa tribe until almost 400 years ago. Whites began occupying the area in the 1900s decade, establishing an agrarian community. The completion of the West Palm Beach Canal in 1917 allowed crops to be shipped by boat to West Palm Beach and then to other areas of the country, while construction of Conners Highway in 1924 resulted in crops being transported by motor vehicle.
Lake Okeechobee, also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the state of Florida. It is the eighth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states. Okeechobee covers 730 square miles (1,900 km2), approximately half the size of the state of Rhode Island, and is exceptionally shallow for a lake of its size, with an average depth of only 9 feet. The Kissimmee River, located directly north of Lake Okeechobee, is the lake's primary source. The lake is divided between Glades, Okeechobee, Martin, Palm Beach, and Hendry counties. All five counties meet at one point near the center of the lake.
The Kissimmee River is a river in south-central Florida, United States.
The Greater Grand Forks Greenway is a huge greenway bordering the Red River and Red Lake River in the twin cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. At 2,200 acres (9 km2), the Greenway is more than twice the size of New York City's Central Park. It has an extensive, 20-mile (32 km) system of bike paths, which are used by bikers, walkers, joggers, and rollerbladers. In 2007, the system was designated as a National Recreation Trail by the National Park Service.
The Okeechobee Waterway or Okeechobee Canal is a relatively shallow man-made waterway in the United States, stretching across Florida from Fort Myers on the west coast to Stuart on Florida's east coast. The waterway can support tows such as barges or private vessels up to 50 feet wide x 250 feet long which draw less than 10 feet, as parts of the system, especially the locks may have low water depths of just ten feet. The system of channels runs through Lake Okeechobee and consists of the Caloosahatchee River to the west of the lake and the St. Lucie Canal (C-44) east of the lake.
The Herbert Hoover Dike is a dike around the waters of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.
A levee breach or levee failure is a situation where a levee fails or is intentionally breached, causing the previously contained water to flood the land behind the levee.
The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane was a long-lived and an intense tropical cyclone that affected the Bahamas, southernmost Florida, and the Gulf Coast of the United States in September 1947. The fourth Atlantic tropical cyclone of the year, it formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on September 4, becoming a hurricane, the third of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season, less than a day later. After moving south by west for the next four days, it turned to the northwest and rapidly attained strength beginning on September 9. It reached a peak intensity of 145 mph (233 km/h) on September 15 while approaching the Bahamas. In spite of contemporaneous forecasts that predicted a strike farther north, the storm then turned to the west and poised to strike South Florida, crossing first the northern Bahamas at peak intensity. In the Bahamas, the storm produced a large storm surge and heavy damage, but with no reported fatalities.
Charles Mill is a reservoir located in central Ohio near the junction of State Routes 430 and 603. Charles Mill Lake is a quiet and enjoyable place for boating, camping, fishing, hunting, or hiking. The lake is located in both Richland County and Ashland County, with the dam located in Ashland County. This lake is located on the Black Fork of the Mohican River. Many local residents refer to Chales Mill Lake as Mifflin Lake due to its proximity to Mifflin, Ohio. The lake primarily sees local use by nearby residents who fish or boat; the marina is accessible from St. Rt. 430.
Lock No. 1, North New River Canal, which opened in 1912, is a historic lock on the North New River Canal located between Davie and Plantation, Florida, United States. It is located south of Plantation on SR 84. On February 17, 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The St. Lucie River is a 7-mile-long (11 km) estuary linked to a coastal river system in St. Lucie and Martin counties in the Florida, United States. The St. Lucie River and St. Lucie Estuary are an "ecological jewel" of the Treasure Coast, central to the health and well-being of the surrounding communities. The river is part of the larger Indian River Lagoon system, the most diverse estuarine environment in North America with more than 4,000 plant and animal species, including manatees, oysters, dolphins, sea turtles and seahorses.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional governmental district that oversees water resources from Orlando to the Florida Keys. The mission of the SFWMD is to manage and protect water resources by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply, covering 16 counties in Central and Southern Florida. It is the largest water management district in the state, managing water needs for 7.7 million residents. A key initiative is the restoration of America's Everglades – the largest environmental restoration project in the nation's history. The District is also working to improve the Kissimmee River and its floodplain, Lake Okeechobee and South Florida's coastal estuaries.
Kreamer Island is a small island in the south-easternmost part of Lake Okeechobee, located in Palm Beach County, Florida just north of Torry Island. Kreamer Island is accessible only by airboat during the wet season and by recreational vehicles during dry season/droughts. A small canal separates Kreamer Island and Torry Island.
The history of draining and development of the Everglades dates back to the 19th century. A national push for expansion and progress toward the latter part of the 19th century stimulated interest in draining the Everglades for agricultural use. According to historians, "From the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the United States went through a period in which wetland removal was not questioned. Indeed, it was considered the proper thing to do."
Fisheating Creek is a stream that flows into Lake Okeechobee in Florida. It is the only remaining free-flowing water course feeding into the lake, and the second-largest natural source for the lake. Most of the land surrounding the stream is either publicly owned or under conservation easements restricting development. The lower part of the stream remains in a largely natural state, and efforts are underway to restore the upper part of the stream to a more natural state.
The effects of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in Florida included at least 2,500 fatalities in the state of Florida, making this the second deadliest tropical cyclone in the history of the contiguous United States, behind only the 1900 Galveston hurricane. The hurricane originated from a tropical depression that formed near Dakar, Senegal, on September 6. Traversing the Atlantic Ocean, the cyclone struck the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas as a powerful hurricane. Early on September 17, the storm made landfall near West Palm Beach, Florida, as a Category 4 hurricane on the modern day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Thereafter, it moved further inland across the Southeastern United States and became extratropical over North Carolina on September 20, before the remnants lost their identity over Ontario on September 21.
The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) is a 109-mile multi-use path around Lake Okeechobee, the seventh largest lake in the United States and the largest in the state of Florida. The trail began as the Okeechobee Segment of the Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST), a 1,000 mile trail that runs from Miami to Pensacola. The USDA and National Forest Service dedicated the Okeechobee Segment as part of the FNST in 1993. Most of the trail is atop the 35-feet tall Herbert Hoover Dike. The trail crosses five counties, Hendry, Glades, Okeechobee, Martin and Palm Beach. Many stretches run along state and county highways, including Florida State Road 78.
