Manhattan, New York, USA (New York City) (New Amsterdam) (Washington Heights)
1938 - "Long Island Express" - HURRICANE, FLOODS SWEEP NEW ENGLAND. 296 WERE KILLED IN STORM ALONG ATLANTIC COAST; PROPERTY DAMAGE ENORMOUS.

...New York City Drenched.
New York city's 7,000,000 inhabitants, who barely escaped the worst of the storm, were drenched with a 4 1/ 2 inch rain. The wind blew 75 miles an hour. Lights failed for two hours last night in two sections of the city. Subway service was halted for a time and thousands were stranded. Two of the four Manhattan-Hudson tubes were closed by water. Commuters were unable to reach Long Island.

The Queen Mary was held at her dock all night with 868 passengers. The Ile de France arrived shortly before the worst of the wind, listing as the gale lashed its port side. The Staten island ferryboat Knickerbocker, loaded with 200 passengers, tipped at its dock on the battery and almost overturned...

Dunkirk Evening Observer
New York
September 22, 1938


The "Long Island Express" was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on September 13, although it may have formed a few days earlier. Moving generally west-northwestward, it passed to the north of Puerto Rico on the 18th and 19th, likely as a category 5 hurricane. It turned northward on September 20 and by the morning of the 21st it was 100 to 150 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. At that point, the hurricane accelerated to a forward motion of 60 to 70 mph, making landfall over Long Island and Connecticut that afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm became extratropical after landfall and dissipated over southeastern Canada on September 22.

Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts measured sustained winds of 121 mph with gusts to 183 mph (likely influenced by terrain). A U.S. Coast Guard station on Long Island measured a minimum pressure of 27.94 in. Storm surges of 10 to 12 ft inundated portions of the coast from Long Island and Connecticut eastward to southeastern Massachusetts, with the most notable surges in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay. Heavy rains before and during the hurricane produced river flooding, most notably along the Connecticut River.

This hurricane struck with little warning and was responsible for 600 deaths and $308 million in damage in the United States.

National Weather Service
Hurricanes in History
www.nhc.noaa.gov/ outreach/ history/ #new



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