Seventy Five Years Later: Little Known, Updated and New Information Related to the Great New England Hurricane of 1938

The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 is still the one with which all other hurricanes in the region are compared. One of only three exceedingly devastating storms of tropical origin since colonial times, it arrived swiftly and unexpectedly to an unprepared population. Hundreds died, coastal communities were wiped out, crops were lost, rivers flooded and an unprecedented number of trees fell when they could not keep their hold on the softened, saturated ground. All this has been known for years, but what new information has been uncovered, clarified and updated seventy five years after the catastrophic event? The presentation will include various topics resulting from an interdisciplinary study of all aspects of the storm, and which culminated with a book on its history and science just published by the AMS in 2013.