Home > What’s the Worst Storm to Hit LIS (Prior to Hurricane Sandy)?

What’s the Worst Storm to Hit LIS (Prior to Hurricane Sandy)?

a) 1938 (New England Hurricane of 1938)

b) 1991 (Hurricane Bob)

c) 2011 (Tropical Storm Irene)

Answer: C. Also known as the Great New England Hurricane of 1938, the Long Island Express, or simply the big one, the New England Hurricane of 1938 ranks as one of the most costly and deadly hurricanes in United States history. Learn more about this hurricane and the frequency of storms in the northeast at NOAA’s Climate.Gov website.

After battering the coast, the hurricane moved north, right into the heart of New England, including Long Island Sound and Long Island. When it was over, 57,000 homes from the Bahamas to Quebec were damaged or destroyed and around 600 people were dead (estimates vary).

In 2010 Peg Van Patten, of CT Sea Grant, wrote an article about the hurricane for NOAA’s web site, using photographs from the collection of father, Robert Van Patten, who as a freelance reporter at the New London Day Peg’s article describes how climate patterns had meteoroligists concerned that future devastating storms couild hit the northeast coast again, something that occur only a year later with Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy.