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September 21, 2007

Hurricane of '38 arrived on a day much like today's

Journal files
The trees bent in the wind, the pole tilted, and this Westerly clubhouse fought a valiant, but losing, battle, to the hurricane.

It was warm, sunny morning, perhaps much like today's, when the most devastating storm to hit the Rhode Island coast arrived 69 years ago -- the Hurricane of '38.

Equivalent to a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 121 miles an hour, it ravaged the region with fierce winds and floods.

It killed nearly 700 people around New England, including more than 300 people in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. It caused an estimated $300 million in damage.

And it left behind a fear, handed down to this day, of what hurricanes could do to the Ocean State.

For a reminder of what the storm was left, take this multimedia look at the past, compiled and narrated by The Journal's managing editor for visuals, Michael Delaney.

Read the accompanying story from 2005, written by Journal environment writer Peter B. Lord.

And share your, and your family's stories of the big blow that shook New England to its core.

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 10:42 AM | Permalink

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