The Long Island Express was one of history’s worst hurricanes
Following an unusual track, the major hurricane slammed into New England in September 1938
Hundreds of people died on Sept. 21, 1938, when one of the most destructive hurricanes of the 20th century crashed ashore in New England.
The unnamed storm, often nicknamed the Long Island Express, forged a track few major hurricanes take—and one that would prove disastrous if it unfolded today.
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The Long Island Express of 1938 was a classic peak-season hurricane. A tropical wave rolling off the coast of Africa quickly organized into a tropical storm near the Cabo Verde Islands on the afternoon of Sept. 9.
Following trade winds across the steamy tropical Atlantic, the system spent more than a week growing into a powerful hurricane. The storm peaked east of The Bahamas at Category 5 intensity with estimated maximum winds as strong as 260 km/h.
Squeezed between a ridge of high pressure over the central U.S. and another high located over the northwestern Atlantic, the storm had nowhere to go but north toward New England.
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The storm accelerated as it approached the region, reaching forward speeds of 75 km/h when it crashed into Long Island, New York, as a major hurricane on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Winds as high as 175 km/h were recorded in Fishers Island, New York, with a storm surge of almost 5.2 metres above ground level in the worst-hit areas of Rhode Island.
The ferocious storm powered inland, slowing down and curving west as it passed over Montreal. While the high winds and heavy rainfall caused minimal issues in Canada, the storm left behind extensive devastation in New England.
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Winds and storm surge reportedly destroyed tens of thousands of homes across the region. More than 600 people lost their lives—mostly on Long Island where the storm initially made landfall.
An immense forest blowdown occurred during the hurricane, with some estimates as high as 2 billion trees lost to the high winds.
The Long Island Express of 1938 remains a benchmark storm for the region. Very few tropical systems follow a path directly into the heart of New England. A similar storm today could prove catastrophic for the region.
Suffolk County, New York, which encompasses most of Long Island outside of Brooklyn, saw its population grow from 160,000 in 1930 to 1,500,000 in 2020. Across the sound, Connecticut and Rhode Island nearly doubled their populations over the same period.
Header image courtesy of NOAA.