Providence, Rhode Island, USA
1938 - "Long Island Express" - HURRICANE, FLOODS SWEEP NEW ENGLAND. 296 WERE KILLED IN STORM ALONG ATLANTIC COAST; PROPERTY DAMAGE ENORMOUS.

...Providence Struck By Tidal Wave.
Providence was one of the chief sufferers in Rhode Island, tremendous tides sweeping 1,000 feet into the city and flooding streets eight to 25 feet deep...

The staff of the Providence, R. I., Journal-Bulletin, driven from the plant, went to Boston, 50 miles away, to publish yesterday's evening edition. The tidal wave had caused havoc. Legionnaires and volunteers joined national guardsmen in rescue and patrol work. Many were armed to prevent looting. Thousands were marooned in office buildings. At the height of the storm, a tank car, containing 3,000 cubic feet of illuminating gas, exploded. It was not learned if there had been any casualties. Roofs were blown from the central police station, public library and union station...

Dunkirk Evening Observer
New York
September 22, 1938

The "Long Island Express" was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on September 13, although it may have formed a few days earlier. Moving generally west-northwestward, it passed to the north of Puerto Rico on the 18th and 19th, likely as a category 5 hurricane. It turned northward on September 20 and by the morning of the 21st it was 100 to 150 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. At that point, the hurricane accelerated to a forward motion of 60 to 70 mph, making landfall over Long Island and Connecticut that afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm became extratropical after landfall and dissipated over southeastern Canada on September 22.

Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts measured sustained winds of 121 mph with gusts to 183 mph (likely influenced by terrain). A U.S. Coast Guard station on Long Island measured a minimum pressure of 27.94 in. Storm surges of 10 to 12 ft inundated portions of the coast from Long Island and Connecticut eastward to southeastern Massachusetts, with the most notable surges in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay. Heavy rains before and during the hurricane produced river flooding, most notably along the Connecticut River.

This hurricane struck with little warning and was responsible for 600 deaths and $308 million in damage in the United States.

National Weather Service
Hurricanes in History
www.nhc.noaa.gov/ outreach/ history/ #new



Visit Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.