Historical Museum to Revisit the Storm of '62

Fifty years after the Storm of '62 battered the East Coast for three days, leaving 40 dead, 1,000 injured and 1,259 Cape May County homes destroyed, the will unveil a summer exhibit dedicated to the devastating nor'easter.

The exhibit opens Friday, June 1, and will run through Sept. 4 during museum hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m Tuesdays to Fridays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays).

The museum sponsored a March 8 presentation on the exact anniversary of the March 6 to 8 storm and invited attendees to share . The narratives collected from that event make up a key component of the new exhibit.

For the museum's new director, Jeff McGranahan, one quote from the exhibit captures the essence of the unpredicted storm:

"Before and during the storm, 'possible flurries' were predicted, but the first high tide at 8 a.m. flooded the causeway. When two subsequent high tides were even higher, we left the island."

The recollection is from Susan Crowe, who was 6 years old at the time of the storm, and it speaks to an era when weather forecasts were far less sophisticated.

The storm blindsided Ocean City and the Jersey Shore, and it intensified with each new tide. Ocean City was flooded from beach to bay. The storm destroyed large parts of the Boardwalk, and it left streets covered by deep sand.

The aftermath of the storm is the basis for five iconic photographs enlarged to be the visual centerpiece of the exhibit. The exhibit will also include a screen showing digitized video from the storm and an enlarged front page of the storm edition from the Ocean City Sentinel-Ledger.

As in the March presentation, the museum will invite attendees to bring copies of photographs, news articles, stories and objects to share. The museum will also create a record of storm survivors who visit the exhibit.