Americana: Missing Disaster

Opening the morning mail in Cloud Lake, Fla., Town Clerk Dorothy Gravelin discovered that the Federal Government had designated the tiny municipality (pop. 136) a "major disaster area." Gravelin was perplexed. "Everything here looked fine," she said. She phoned Liz Pattison, Florida coordinator in the U.S. Office of Revenue Sharing, who told her that the disaster must have been the severe crop freeze in January 1977. Cloud Lake has no farms and only a few backyard orange trees.

After a quick huddle with Mayor Leon Larisey, Gravelin announced that Cloud Lake would stand on...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!