Long Island Express Hurricane Of 1938

Father's Day: A time for reflection and celebration

Our current economic downturn has raised havoc in the lives of most Americans, many of whom have been devastated by economic losses never before experienced other than by those who struggled through the Great Depression of the thirties. But, none have experienced more of a thrashing than the working poor and middle class men nearing retirement age who have lost nearly 90% of the jobs that disappeared during the past three years; positions that many have held for decades. And, unlike other Americans, these ‘Baby Boomers’ may not have time to reverse their misfortunes and recoup losses which has placed them in an extremely precarious position since an unprecedented number have also lost their homes, their savings, a good portion of their retirement income, and their health insurance. What should have been a promising well earned phase in their lives, a stage that would normally provide a sustainable level of income required to guarantee a comfortable lifestyle during the endeared period in time termed the ‘Golden years,’ has instead become a period of frustration, uncertainty, and despair. And, thanks to Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, boomers without health insurance have been denied the option of entering Medicare at age 55.

One can best summarize the ‘Boomers’ plight by saying an extraordinary number of pending retirees are ill-prepared to endure the obstacles, uncertainties, and illness that lie ahead. Further complicating their dilemma are the post traumatic illnesses brought on by the distress created by their losses and the seemingly impassable obstacles they pose. Many mid-age workers have postponed retirement while others have given up hope of returning to any form of normality that resembles their former life and therefore, believe they will never live to see retirement.

What would you do if you experienced a combination of the above referenced misfortunes? What if you lost your job, lost your home, had no degree, no savings, no health insurance, and had been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Would you give up, or would you attempt to turn your life around before retiring and passing? Could you overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and exceed during an era of high unemployment and volatile economic uncertainty; a period which included rising interest rates, surging prices, and escalating inflation? A phase not too dissimilar to what we face today?

Well, I known of such a person; a man who spent over 30 years in the town of my birth; a man who was well-known, well liked and well respected within his community; a middle-age man who found himself at a major crossroad in life not unlike that experienced by many of today’s boomers yet somehow managed to inspire his family and an entire community by defying all odds and realizing in less than a year what others strive to accomplish in a lifetime; a man representative of the millions of fathers and mothers of his era whose endurance and courage were a testament to a generation that bore the hardships and sacrifices created by two prolonged periods of major world conflict, a protracted period of false prosperity, and a decade long economic depression brought about by inadequate regulation, excessive greed, and the need to live an opulent, unaffordable, and unsustainable life style. A generation of toughened, selfless parents who continually scrambled to adjust their families lives to new sets of parameters established by a dramatically changing economic and geo-political environment similar to that which we have encountered during the last decade.

Dannenberg: Express to Vermont

During the evening of September 21, 1938, my wife’s grandmother, Eva May Clough Joyal, huddled at the foot of the stairs with her four children in the house where we live in Cabot. She believed it to be the safest spot, while gale-force winds howled outside, rattling windows. She may have been right; the house emerged unscathed. Some other places in Vermont were not so lucky.

At 2:30 p.m., a hurricane blew ashore at Bayport, Long Island. It was a Category 3 when it hit land. That’s the same strength Katrina had the second time it came ashore. Back then, they didn’t give hurricanes names that make them sound innocuous. Journalists named it the Long Island Express or the New England Hurricane of 1938.

The storm gouged several inlets into the south shore beaches of Long Island. Some of those inlets still exist. The storm surge and pounding surf were strong enough to show up on seismographs in Alaska. In Westhampton, N.Y., the winds swept a movie theater two miles into the Atlantic; the projectionist and 20 patrons drowned.

The monster raced across Long Island Sound into Connecticut and Rhode Island. Church steeples toppled in winds that gusted between 50 and 186 miles per hour, the second-highest winds ever recorded on Earth. The 18 to 25 foot storm surge swept hundreds of shore homes into the sea and sank thousands of boats. In New London, Conn., a fire burned a quarter-mile of the business district. Firefighters battled the blaze in neck-deep water, but it burned out of control until southerly gales shifted to the northwest.

In Rhode Island, winds funneled the tide into Narragansett Bay, straight at downtown Providence. Observers saw what they thought was a fog bank blowing ashore; it was a 44-foot high wall of water. Water rose to almost 14 feet in Providence’s streets. It was quitting time. The water, rising in minutes, swept away people who were leaving their jobs. Several drowned in cars. Waves swept away a lighthouse and its keeper. Rhode Island suffered most of the loss of life; almost 400 died there.

The express raced up the Connecticut River Valley. In Massachusetts, 99 people died. It had already been raining for three days before the hurricane hit. The ground was saturated. Bridges washed away.

In Hartford, the Connecticut River crested at almost 20 feet above flood stage. The flood surrounded Hartford for four miles. Western New England flood levels surpassed records set two and one-half years earlier in a “100-year” flood.

Hurricane of 1938

Sudden sea, the Great Hurricane of 1938

As America Has Done to Israel

The Long Island express, tracking the hurricane of 1938

Successful response starts with a map, improving geospatial support for disaster management