Sep 19, 2008 6:59 pm US/Eastern
Victim Recalls Horrors Of 1938 Hurricane
Victim Remebers Horrific 1938 Hurricane: Mish Michaels' Reporter's Notebook
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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The hurricane of 1938
WBZ
After all these years, my neighbor, Elaine Boettcher, still has quite a story to tell.
She was a third grade student when her school was dismissed. All they knew was that a "storm" was coming.
There were no school buses in those days, so she had to walk home with her classmates. The distance was almost a mile. As they made their way in the wind and rain, their little umbrellas turned inside out.
She recalls being concerned that her mom would be upset. A broken umbrella.
But her parents had more to worry about than that. Elaine recalls the grave look on their faces as the winds increased and the rain swept sideways.
They were huddled to the radio for updates. No TV in those days. In fact, there was no warning at all that the most destructive hurricane in New England history was to create memories that would ripple through generations.
The next morning, her family ventured out walking to downtown Hartford, just a few miles from their home.
Elaine remembers building after building completely submerged underwater. It made the landscape unrecognizable to her. She recalls hearing one story of survival after another. She knew her family had been fortunate. The frequent hurricane landfalls of recent years tug at her heart strings. Elaine has lived that kind of hardship firsthand, even though it was decades ago.
The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 impacted an astonishing 100,000 square miles. In those days, it was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
The price tag, some $300 million dollars which equates to $50 BILLION dollars today. It was not until 1954 when Hurricane Carol struck that the financial toll was surpassed. Major hurricanes can and do happen on our coast. It is only a matter of time.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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