Hurricane September 21st, 1938

Of the Hurricane of 1938, Lewis Knapp wrote in his landmark history of Stratford, "In Pursuit of Paradise", the following.

     "On September 21 the Hurricane of 1938 battered Stratford. After five days of rain, the morning had been changeable, dashes of rain alternating with clearing skies. By early afternoon a solid sheet of rain was falling, whipped by fiercer winds than anyone remembered. By 2:30, WICC announced that a hurricane was on its way. Wind speeds were measured to 121 miles per hour, and gusts to 183. High tides swept over the shoreline and towering waves lashed cottages and roads. Cottages at Short Beach, Lordship, and Long Beach were smashed or swept away. Paul Castelot was drowned attempting to save a boat from drifting onto the jetty in the river, and Charles Krolinowski died of injuries received when part of his roof crashed down on him. Power went out and phones went dead when trees came down on wires. Roads were flooded and for six hours Lordship was cut off from the world.
     Late in the afternoon, the wind died completely and the sun beamed down from a bright blue sky on an eerie, quiet scene. It was the eye of the storm. As darkness fell, the wind and rain returned, and homes were lighted by oil lamps and candles. Acting town manager Howard Wilcoxson stayed at his desk until midnight directing rescue efforts.
     The next day, residents looked out on devastation. Fifteen hundred trees were down, and Public Works with WPA crews took five days to clear the streets. Helen and LeRoy Lewis had been swept off their little island in the Thimbles and drowned. Only the week before, Helen Lewis had been nominated secretary of state on the Baldwin ticket.
     Digging out took weeks. Shoreline trains on the New Haven Road were restored after some days, and power was returned in most of the town. Even without power, the Stratford News was able to use its old hand press to publish the news of the storm. Red Cross chairman Warren Beach asked for donations for hurricane victims, declaring other places were harder hit. Most beach cottages were never restored."