Connecticut State Library with state seal

1938 Hurricane Photographs


Detail shows the Great Gordon Tire Works, 110 Connecticut Blvd. in East Hartford on Sept. 24, 1938 after the Connecticut River flooded following the 1938 Hurricane.
Picture source: Connecticut State Archives, PG160 Aerial Survey of Connecticut Hurricane damage photograph 00021.

The hurricane of Sept. 21, 1938 battered Connecticut and Rhode Island, as can be seen in 132 oblique aerial photographs taken by the 118th Photographic Section of the U.S. Army Air Corps on Sept. 23-24. The photographs show flooding along the Connecticut River from Windsor to Wethersfield and in Cromwell, along the Willimantic and Shetucket Rivers from Stafford to Norwich, and along the Quinebaug River in Putnam. The damaged caused by the storm surge and hurricane winds can be seen along Long Island Sound from East Haven to Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Bridges collapsed or were overrun by the waters they were meant to cross. Train tracks were washed out. Trees were felled, blocking roads and taking down the telephone and electric systems. Homes and businesses were obliterated by the storm surge and the flooding.

Resources:

Anderson, Jerome S. ed., assisted by Edward A. Adler and Eugene W. Buston. A matter of moments : a photographic record of damage wrought in Stonington, Mystic and Noank, Connecticut by the hurricane and tidal wave of September 21, 1938. Stonington, Conn.: Stonington Publishing Co., c. 1938. CSL call number: Special Collections F104.S85 M3 1938

[Search our catalog for books & other State Library materials about the 1938 hurricane]

Photographs from various individuals and newspapers illustrate the damage in the three seaside villages. The excellent captions try to identify the persons who appear in the photographs, the property owners and the names of the boats.

This is a simple list of disasters in these categories:  Blizzards, Construction Disasters, Fires, Floods, Hurricanes and Tornados.

Damage to property, as a result of the 1938 hurricane, is estimated at $38,000,000, including damage to agriculture, manufacturing, public utilities, state highways and bridges, other state property, timber, mercantile, fishing and churches and cemeteries. This did not include damage to municipal property, to ornamental and shade trees, to private property (unless included in one of the previous categories), lost wages, or the cost of clean up. Governor Wilbur Cross formed the State Rehabilitation Committee to make recommendations on how to solve the problems caused by the storm.

Even before the hurricane hit, rivers were rising toward flood stage, due to heavy rains, causing concerns about the safety of the public water supply. This account from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1, 1938, tells of the efforts of doctors, nurses and engineers to assess the public health threat, to provide safe water and to inoculate against typhoid.

“Central Connecticut received from 14 to 17 inches of rain from September 17 to September 22 inclusive.” (p.3) Heavy winds were recorded at a steady 45 miles per hour in New Haven with gusts up to 87 mph and stronger wind velocities to the east, and the trees still had all their leaves. “The combination of soggy ground, strong wind and the sail surface of a full complement of leaves proved too much and many shade and forest trees were broken or blown over by the hurricane.” (p.4) “Practically all older stands of white pine east of the Connecticut River were partially or completely destroyed.” (p.5) Governor Wilbur Cross appointed committees to make recommendations dealing with Forest Fires, Timber Salvage and Forest Rehabilitation.

Faculty member Jerauld Manter photographed the damage following the hurricane. Students rigged a ham radio to communicate with the outside world.

Photographs show people in rowboats on flooded streets, storm tossed boats and other storm damage.

With photographs by W.P.A. photographers and newspapers, news services, public and private organizations and individuals. Photographs of the hurricane damage in Connecticut appear on pages 14-41 and photographs of the subsequent river floods appear on pages 112-126, and pages 157-163.

Our website describes how to access other years’ aerial surveys, both online and in the original.

Even before the hurricane hit, because of the threat of river floods, extra telephone operators were called into service on the morning of Sept. 21. “Girls who were driven to Willimantic had to cross the bridge into the city on foot, since high water had closed all bridges to motor traffic.” (p.7) At soon as the wind ceased, the night of the storm, the telephone company sent men out at to begin to assess, clear away and repair the damage caused by the storm.

A meteorologist’s description of the track of the hurricane compares it to other such storms in New England.

On the map for September 21 the eye of the storm is off Cape Hatteras and the forecast called for rain in New England. On the September 22 map it is in Canada.

The fire danger from the downed trees was regarded as a “great peril” (p. 9) Across New England, the lumber, if recovered from the forests, would be enough to create 200,000 “comfortable 5-room homes.” (p. 11) The New England Forest Emergency Office was created by the U.S. Forest Serivce to coordinate the effort to mitigate the fire danger and salvage the lumber. Includes photographs of downed trees and the fire hazard cleanup effort in Connecticut and throughout New England.

Photographs by WPA staff photographers A. Burton Street and James J. Walsh include the effort to fill and place sand bags to limit the effects of the Park River and Connecticut River floods. More than 22,000 WPA employees in the state participated in the recovery effort by clearing streets of downed trees, gathering and distributing clothing for the homeless, and caring for flood refugees.

By Jane F. Cullinane and John J. Lenehan, Preservation Office, May 2007.