1938 New England Hurricane [Hurricane]
Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 1:12 pm
The worst natural disaster to hit four states - Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire - was the 1938 New England Hurricane, aka the Great New England Hurricane. "It remains the most powerful and deadliest hurricane in recent New England history, eclipsed in landfall intensity perhaps only by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635" (Wikipedia).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_ ... _hurricane
http://www.weather.gov/okx/1938HurricaneHistory
"The tide was even higher than usual because of the autumnal equinox and full moon," so tides were 14-18 feet from Long Island to Massachusetts.
160 mph winds at peak, 682-800 died overall, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, $306M in damages (= $5.2B in 2016 dollars).
The storm made landfall on Long Island as a Cat 3 hurricane September 21, 1938, sometime between 2:10-2:45 PM (but NY is not one of the states for which it's a "worst").
Connecticut: 1938 New England Hurricane
Connecticut was hit by the hurricane's effects September 21, by 3:00 PM. (I'll use New Haven, 4 PM.) The "center of the hurricane" was at Meridian, CT about 4:00 PM. Another source says the hurricane made landfall between Bridgeport and New Haven about 4:00 PM (sustained winds 115 mph). Damage was severe, with many small towns along the coast being almost eradicated and rainfall flooding inland cities. - Specific towns are listed in Wikipedia. New London had a massive fire (started at 4:30 PM) consequent to the hurricane as well (i.e., after the hurricane's wind and surge had done their damage).
Rhode Island: 1938 New England Hurricane
The town of Westerly, Rhode Island was hit at 3:50 PM, September 21, with 100 consequent deaths. As with Connecticut, some whole communities were nearly wiped out along the coast.
Massachusetts: 1938 New England Hurricane
"By 5:00 PM EDT [September 21], the eye moved into western Massachusetts" (Wikipedia). [Use Springfield as a representative western location.) 99 people died in the state. Springfield & New Bedford deserves specific mention: In New Bedford, which was under 8' of water, two-thirds of the boats sank in the harbor. In Springfield, water rose 6-10' above flood stage, resulting in considerable damage. Gloucester had a 50-foot wave and much damage. In Milton, where the Blue Hill Observatory recorded 121 mph sustained winds and a 186 mph peak gust, "the strongest hurricane-related surface wind gust ever recorded in the United States.:
The storm next hit Vermont next, about 6:00 PM. By 10:00 PM it passed into Quebec. New Hampshire effects were between these two.
New Hampshire: 1938 New England Hurricane
Damage to Peterborough was worst in NH; in fact, much of Peterborough burned to the ground when firefighters couldn't get past floodwaters to fight the fire. 13 died in New Hampshire. I'd use 6:00 PM for this, at Peterborough.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_ ... _hurricane
http://www.weather.gov/okx/1938HurricaneHistory
"The tide was even higher than usual because of the autumnal equinox and full moon," so tides were 14-18 feet from Long Island to Massachusetts.
160 mph winds at peak, 682-800 died overall, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, $306M in damages (= $5.2B in 2016 dollars).
The storm made landfall on Long Island as a Cat 3 hurricane September 21, 1938, sometime between 2:10-2:45 PM (but NY is not one of the states for which it's a "worst").
Connecticut: 1938 New England Hurricane
Connecticut was hit by the hurricane's effects September 21, by 3:00 PM. (I'll use New Haven, 4 PM.) The "center of the hurricane" was at Meridian, CT about 4:00 PM. Another source says the hurricane made landfall between Bridgeport and New Haven about 4:00 PM (sustained winds 115 mph). Damage was severe, with many small towns along the coast being almost eradicated and rainfall flooding inland cities. - Specific towns are listed in Wikipedia. New London had a massive fire (started at 4:30 PM) consequent to the hurricane as well (i.e., after the hurricane's wind and surge had done their damage).
Rhode Island: 1938 New England Hurricane
The town of Westerly, Rhode Island was hit at 3:50 PM, September 21, with 100 consequent deaths. As with Connecticut, some whole communities were nearly wiped out along the coast.
Massachusetts: 1938 New England Hurricane
"By 5:00 PM EDT [September 21], the eye moved into western Massachusetts" (Wikipedia). [Use Springfield as a representative western location.) 99 people died in the state. Springfield & New Bedford deserves specific mention: In New Bedford, which was under 8' of water, two-thirds of the boats sank in the harbor. In Springfield, water rose 6-10' above flood stage, resulting in considerable damage. Gloucester had a 50-foot wave and much damage. In Milton, where the Blue Hill Observatory recorded 121 mph sustained winds and a 186 mph peak gust, "the strongest hurricane-related surface wind gust ever recorded in the United States.:
The storm next hit Vermont next, about 6:00 PM. By 10:00 PM it passed into Quebec. New Hampshire effects were between these two.
New Hampshire: 1938 New England Hurricane
Damage to Peterborough was worst in NH; in fact, much of Peterborough burned to the ground when firefighters couldn't get past floodwaters to fight the fire. 13 died in New Hampshire. I'd use 6:00 PM for this, at Peterborough.