Rhode Island Marks 83 Years Since Great Hurricane Of 1938

NEWPORT, RI — One this day, more than eight decades ago, Rhode Island was ravaged by one of the strongest, most devastating hurricanes to ever hit the region.

The Great Hurricane of 1938 made landfall as a Category 3 storm, slamming along the coast at 50 to 60 mph, hitting Long Island and Connecticut on its way to the Ocean State. Because it was the day of the fall equinox and high tide, the storm produced extreme storm surge, the National Weather Service said, causing deadly flooding in several parts of the state.

Downtown Providence was submerged under 20 feet of water, completely engulfing cars and flooding buildings. To this day, a plaque marks the high-water mark on the famed Superman building, nearly six feet above the sidewalk.

The city of Newport was hit particularly hard, with 14 to 18 feet of storm surge flooding Thames Street, carrying fishing boats and pleasure crafts into the road.

Easton's Beach, which at the time had an "extensive" boardwalk including a roller coaster, pavilions and bathhouses was completely razed, "as if it never existed," the city said in a statement.

In total, 600 people are believed to have died from the storm, most in Rhode Island. The storm came before storms were named or categorized, though today it would have been considered a Category 3. Rather than refer to it by a name, Rhode Islanders simply called it "The Great Hurricane of 1938."

See historic photos of the damage from Newport in the photos below, posted by the city of Newport.