December 21

The Great Hurricane of '38 (2005)
By Cherie Burns

On this first day of winter, rain - not snow - is pouring down, and perhaps this is a good day to look back on the most destructive event to hit RI.  This fascinating history examines the times, the day of, and the aftermath of the Hurricane of '38, which changed life along the RI coast forever.

The sun is shining on a beautiful sunny late September day in 1938.  The Great Depression is finally over, but war clouds are gathering in Europe.  Without access to modern forecasting techniques, fishermen are gathered along the shore, a wedding is in progress, a Sunday School picnic is taking place at Napatree Point in Westerly.  With only the vaguest warnings, people are taken unaware as a hurricane rages up the coast at 60 mph and winds gust to over 180; waves surge over 20 feet.  Seaside homes and even hotels are swept off their foundations, trees are down, and coastlines are changed.  There is a huge loss of life.  Yet there are amazing survival stories, too.

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Years ago, Rhode Islanders used to compare stories of Where were you when the hurricane hit?  One friend waited hours for her husband to make it home through downtown Providence, comforting her worried children [he made it]; another was in her day of classes at Pembroke College and remembered watching the water fill the streets of Providence, afraid it would climb up College Hill.  Most of those folks are gone today, and I appreciate Cherie Burns' interviews of those who survived.  Thankfully, we have accurate forecasting equipment today, but let's never underestimate nature's power.