This book traces the stories of various New England families through the September 20th, Category 3, Great Hurricane of 1938 (GH38). A hurricane that caught them by total surprise. The news on the radio at the time was full of Hitler’s pending invasion of Czechoslovakia. Severe weather wasn’t mentioned—only light rain was forecast. Obviously, they did not have today’s warning system and this cost seven hundred people their lives. Additionally, 63,000 people were left homeless, 9,000 homes, cottages, and buildings totally destroyed, and another 15,000 damaged.
Today’s warning system, using Hurricane Andrew (1992) as a contrast, clearly illustrates a more advanced warning system. Though Andrew carved a thousand-mile swath of devastation to property, only twenty people died. It had been tracked by satellite and radar for days and nearly one-million people were evacuated before the hurricane made landfall. (P.22).
A hurricane factoid: Pg. 26: As a rule, when hurricanes begin to move over waters cooler than 79 degrees Fahrenheit, they lose their punch and die.
My Notes:
Pg. 6: The Great Hurricane of 1938 was the strongest and most destructive storm ever to hit New England, and one of the most powerful natural events in recorded history. It was a disaster from which some communities would never recover physically, economically, or spiritually. The only warning concerning GH38 came on September 20th from the Cunard White Star liner Carinthia, whose captain reported that his barometer had dipped to 27.85 inches, one of the lowest readings ever recorded in the North Atlantic.
Pg. 54: Although most people in New England were unware, hurricanes were not an unprecedented event in their area. In 1635 and 1815 hurricanes believed to be as great as GH38 had hit New England.
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