The Hurricane of '38

[Tradd]

Given that northern part of the eastern seaboard is looking at getting hit, I went to PBS' website looking for this The American Experience episode on "The Hurricane of '38." The storm was also known as "The Long Island Express."

I was delighted to see the entire episode (50 minutes, approx.) is online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/hurricane/player/

I saw this back when it originally aired. Highly recommend you watch.

One family (parents, 3-4 children+3 servants) sailed across Little Narragansett Bay on a piece of bedroom floor (where they had taken refuge in a maid's room on the third floor) and lived to tell the tale!

[artist]

The flooding caused by the storm of 38' was talked about for years here. I remember my dad walking us along the canals and telling us which neighborhoods of the city were underwater.

[Tweety]

I was a 4 year old then, living in Brooklyn, and remember my father bundling Mom and me up in the car and driving us down to the waterfront along the Lower NY Bay to watch the huge waves hitting the breakwater during the hurricane, and my mother pleading with him, "Please Kurt, take us home!"
Years later, living on Cape Cod, I heard many stories about how the storm came roaring up Buzzards Bay and caused much devastation and loss of life. People on the Cape take hurricanes seriously! My relatives there are pulling their boats out today, just to be sure.

[Miss Cellane]

One of the big problems with this storm was that people weren't alerted until very late that this wasn't just a rainstorm, it was a hurricane.

My grandmother and my aunt were out in the car, driving to pick my uncle up from a piano lesson. This was in Boston. The wind overturned their car and Auntie got a severe enough concussion that she was hospitalized for two days. My uncle ended up spending the night at his piano teacher's house.

My grandparents lost one of their three chicken coops, 10 chickens, and an apple tree.

I really hope Irene isn't this bad.

[rosarugosa]

Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti is one of the best reads ever, better than most novels. I loved that book and would enthusiastically recommend it.

[Tweety]

Back then weather forecasting was fairly primitive, and there was little data to rely upon. No matter what you think about government programs, the weather satellites and the National Hurricane Center in Miami are worth every penny of tax dollars they cost!

[Weston]

Back then weather forecasting was fairly primitive, and there was little data to rely upon. No matter what you think about government programs, the weather satellites and the National Hurricane Center in Miami are worth every penny of tax dollars they cost!

That was also back when if you went through a disaster you were pretty much on your own for the aftermath. Little or no government assistance. Recovery was pretty much up to you, your family and your friends.

[catherine]

I remember my great-aunt showing me pictures of the damage of that hurricane in Madison, CT, where she and my great-uncle had a summer cottage. Her home was fine because it was across the street, but other homes were demolished.