The recent devastations of Hurricane Sandy have prompted comparison
with other great storms of the past, including the Hurricane of 1938, one of
the fiercest storms to hit New England.
The 1938 hurricane is still legendary, and not long ago I
acquired some original photographs of the hurricane's damage along the
Connecticut coast.
It is difficult to compare the impact of different storms,
because the damage from hurricanes is spread over so wide an area, and some localities
are hit much harder than others, not to mention that the country has been built
up in the last seventy-odd years. Furthermore, one can't always tell from photographs
the true extent of the damage. For example, loss of life, underground flooding,
or the historic value of destroyed property may not be evident in the pictures.
Here is a selection of photographs that indicate the force
of the wind and the water back in 1938:
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| Boats blown across the road into yards. |
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| The decking torn off, these docks are reduced to forests of pilings. |
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| Extensive rubble and many displaced boats. |
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| These buildings were tossed around quite a bit, almost like a tornado. |
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| Rubble and a torn-off roof. I assume the hanging laundry was part of the cleanup, and had not weathered the storm. |
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| I wonder if fire damage was also a factor for this building; the storm spawned many fires. |
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| Collapsed buildings. |
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| This building was blown off its foundation, although the delicate railing remains. There is not much left of the house next door, either. |
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From its upright position, I wonder whether this large boat was blown in from the water, or just across the tracks.
I am sure that many out there are more capable of interpreting
these coastline/nautical photos than I am. If you notice any special features or details, please
let me know. (Sorry if these are not as sharp as they could be; the originals are in
Ohio, and the scans I have here are not high-resolution.)
There is no way directly to compare the Hurricane of 1938 to
Hurricane Sandy or to any other storm. Each storm and disaster should be
remembered and memorialized for the effect it had on its world, and serve to remind us of the awesome forces of nature.
(All photos from the
collection of the author.)
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