Footnotes to Long Island History
Worst Storm
by
Thomas R. Bayles
By Thomas R. Bayles
The hurricane
of Sept. 21, 1938 was the worst and most destructive storm to ever hit
Long Island, especially the south shore, with giant tidal waves sweeping
inland and destroying hundreds of houses and taking the lives of a great
many people.
It had rained
the day before with two and a half inches falling, so the ground was wet
with the trees in full leaf which made them blow down much worse than if
the storm had been in the winter when the trees were bare and the ground
frozen. Most of the damage through the middle of the Island was caused
by fallen trees and blocked roads. From the diary of my brother I quote
his record of the storm.
“Sept. 21,
1938; Hurricane Worst storm in Long Island history. Tidal waves hit
Long Island and New England shores. Rained two and a half inches
yesterday and today. Thermometer 55 – 73. Cloudy and rained most of
the day. NE to SE wind began 1:30pm and rose steadily to hurricane
force at about 3 p.m and continued until 4 p.m when it ceased for one
hour. SW to NW winds began again about 5 pm, not quite so strong as
before and continued through the evening. Barometer fell steadily from
about 30.0 before noon to 27.28 at 4:30 pm and then began rising
slowly. We went to see breakers on Sound shore and then to Coram to see
trees blown down by the storm. Tidal wave hit eastern south shore of
Long Island and New England 2 to 4 pm with hundreds of lives lost.
Electric current went off 1:40 pm and telephone failed.”
“Monday,
Sept. 26; We went through Moriches, Eastport and Westhampton looking at
the damage done by the storm. All roads leading to the bay closed and
guarded, but we got down to the bar at East Moriches and saw boats,
houses and wreckage washed up on the bean fields by storm. Our electric
current came on at 2:15 pm today after being off since last Wednesday
when the storm began. Telephone still not working.”