Two catastrophic hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 caused Lake Okeechobee to breach its levees, killing thousands of people. The government began to focus on the control of floods rather than drainage. The Okeechobee Flood Control District was created in 1929, financed by both state and federal funds. President Herbert Hoover toured the towns affected by the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane and ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to assist the communities surrounding the lake.[125] Between 1930 and 1937 a dike 66 miles (106 km) long was built around the southern edge of the lake. Control of the Hoover Dike and the waters of Lake Okeechobee was delegated to federal powers: the United States declared legal limits of the lake to between 14 and 17 feet (4.3 and 5.2 m).[104] A massive canal was also constructed 80 feet (24 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep through the Caloosahatchee River; whenever the lake rose too high, the excess water left through the canal.[104] More than $20 million was spent on the entire project. Sugarcane production soared after the dike and canal were built. The populations of the small towns surrounding the lake jumped from 3,000 to 9,000 after World War II.[126]