Total property damage from 'The Big One' in New England was estimated at over $300 million in 1938-equivalent to almost $5 billion in 2010 dollars. When it was over, 57,000 homes from the Bahamas to Quebec were damaged or destroyed and around 600 people were dead (estimates vary). As is common with strong hurricanes, many people died by drowning as the storm surge flooded their homes, schools, and businesses.ДЄfter battering the coast, the hurricane moved north, right into the heart of New England. One startling arrangement of debris was a boat that had crashed right into a funeral parlor. Morgan Stewart,The Day, courtesy of Peg Van Patten.Д«eaches in Connecticut and Rhode Island were stripped clean of the summer cottages that had crowded their shores, and fishing boats were tossed about like toys, some settling as far as a mile inland. Here, homeowners found a large boat and industrial debris deposited in their yard. In the New England Hurricane of 1938, fishing boats and yachts were carried ashore by waves and wind. Essentially unwatched, the hurricane abruptly tripled its northward speed, and traveled the 425 miles (700 km) from Cape Hatteras to Long Island in less than 8 hours. Most of the ships that might have reported the storm's location had retreated to shore, waiting for the hurricane to spin itself out in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasts issued for the eastern seaboard that day contained high wind and gale advisories, but made no mention of a hurricane. As the storm seemed to be heading out to sea, most of them breathed a sigh of relief and went home. Late in the day on September 19, 1938, weather forecasters who had alerted Floridians of the possibility of a hurricane landfall saw that the storm had turned north. The 'Great New England Hurricane of 1938,' also known as 'The Long Island Express' or simply 'The Big One,' blindsided New Englanders that year, striking without warning in the afternoon of September 21. With a few notable exceptions, however, most hurricanes that swirl northward along the East Coast veer out into the Atlantic without making landfall.

She is wrong.New England has weathered its share of battering storms, and even an occasional tornado. When it becomes apparent a bad storm is brewing, Hepburn's brother, Richard, wants to evacuate but his mother does not think it will be necessary because the cottage's piling have recently been reinforced. In the morning, Hepburn scores a hole on the Fenwick Golf Course sixth hole, and later in the day she takes a swim in the increasingly turbulent sound. In New York City there is major flooding, and the flag atop the local Weather Bureau office is ripped to shreds.ДЇlooding is also a problem in the already rain-soaked northeast, and the residents of Hartford soon find themselves locked in another pitched battle with the Connecticut River, which is threatening to swallow the city for the second time in two years.ДЇor actress Katherine Hepburn, who is home in the Fenwick section of Old Saybrook before filming 'The Philadelphia Story,' the day begins with great luck, and ends with incredible misfortune. On Mount Washington, a 183 mph gust destroys a train trestle. Docks are being reduced to kindling, boats are being driven aground, cottages are being demolished, swept away or washed across bays intact. The wind is blowing 100 mph, but along the shore it is the storm surge that is doing the major damage. The eye of the storm passes directly over Milford. The storm will hit at high tide on the equinox, when tides are already abnormally high. Near Cape Hatteras, N.C., it picks up the jet stream and now it is roaring up the coast at 60 mph.Д«ecause the storm track does not take it over any land mass, it doesn't lose any strength as moves. based forecasters are missing, though, is that a strong high pressure system in the North Atlantic is keeping the storm from being pushed away, and a narrow low-pressure trough is being created that will guide the storm directly toward New England.Д«locked to the east and west, the storm is unable to spread out and so it becomes increasingly concentrated, increasingly powerful as it heads north. The official forecast for New England on Sept. coastline, they are almost always pushed out to sea by the prevailing west-to-east winds.

When hurricanes turn north as they approach the U.S. Meteorologists there have been tracking the 'Cape Verde' born hurricane since noticing it near Puerto Rico, but breathe easier when it abruptly veers north.

1938 hurricane track