Picture Connecticut: The Hurricane Of 1938

Community Corner

Picture Connecticut: The Hurricane Of 1938 On Sept. 21, 1938, the great hurricane slammed into Connecticut.

NEW LONDON, CT — This week's Picture Connecticut image takes us back in time to the Hurricane of 1938, which ravaged the Connecticut shore 86 years ago this weekend.

Pictured is the U.S. Lighthouse Service Tender Tulip sitting on a set of railroad tracks after being washed ashore by the great storm. It was taken by Heman Dehnel Sr., a track foreman who traveled to New London from his Greenwich home to assist the railroad with cleanup efforts.

On Sept. 21, 1938, the storm crossed over the tip of Long Island, hit New London and raced up the Connecticut River Valley at 50 miles per hour, leaving a path of destruction.

The Tulip was eventually re-floated and wound up being given to the government of the Philippines after being de-commissioned in 1945.

Below is another ship that was tossed onto the tracks by the storm.

Picture Connecticut is a weekly series that features images of the state, past and present. Here are past images: