The Eastern part of Connecticut was the hardest hit, since it bore the brunt of the eastern, or stronger, side of the hurricane. Small shoreline towns to the east of New Haven had nearly complete destruction from the water and winds. Believe it or not, to this day, the 1938 hurricane remains the worst natural disaster in Connecticut's history. In the beach towns of Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook, buildings were found as wreckage across coastal roads.
According to reports, stately homes along Ocean Beach in New London were leveled by the storm surge. The permanently anchored 240-ton lightship at the head of New London Harbor was found on a sand bar two miles away. Inland sections of Connecticut experienced widespread flooding as torrential rains fell on soil already saturated from previous storms. The Connecticut River was forced out of its banks, flooding cities and towns from Hartford to Middletown.
As for the storm's history, it was centered several hundred miles to the southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the early morning hours of September 21. By mid-morning, the hurricane was centered approximately 100 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, and its forward speed had increased to well over 50 m.p.h. This rapid movement did not give the hurricane a sufficient amount of time to weaken over the cooler waters before it reached Long Island.
The hurricane sped through the Virginia tidewater by late-morning, and by early afternoon the New Jersey coastline and New York City caught the western edge of the hurricane. Weather conditions suddenly began to deteriorate along the southern New England coast as well as on Long Island. The full force of the hurricane started to reach Long Island after 2 o'clock, and the eye made landfall at Bayport in Suffolk County shortly after 3 o'clock.
An hour later, the eye had crossed the Long Island Sound and was making a second landfall just east of New Haven. According to modern analysis, the hurricane attained Category 3 intensity at both landfalls. The maximum sustained winds were between 120 and 125 miles an hour. After crossing LongIsland Sound, the hurricane sped inland.
The eye moved into western Massachusetts by 5 o'clock and, one hour later, the hurricane reached Vermont. Both Westfield, Massachusetts, and Dorset, Vermont, reported calm conditions and partial clearing during the passage of the eye. When the hurricane continued into northern Vermont, it began to lose its tropical characteristics.
Twenty-eight years later, another slow-moving storm brought gale-force winds and three inches of rain to southwestern Connecticut on Wednesday, September 21, 1966. Today's weather, however, will be picture-perfect. It will be mostly sunny and pleasant with a high temperature of 70 degrees or better on the last full day of Summer. Fall officially arrives tomorrow morning at 10:49 EDT with the Autumnal Equinox.
Paul
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