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Community Corner

Sandy vs. the Long Island Express

Back in 1938, the Shoreline was devastated by a hurricane that swept houses off the Thimbles and destroyed much property. What do you know about the hurricane of '38, and how does it compare to Sandy?

Back in 1938, there was no system for detecting hurricanes before they hit. It was before hurricanes and tropical storms were assigned names. Though it has since been called things like the Yankee Clipper and the Long Island Express, when that storm hit, it was a complete surprise.

After waiting out Sandy and the return of power to Branford, I started thinking about the great hurricane of 1938 and wondering how the two storms compared -- not just in terms of wind speed and flooding, but also in terms of damage, costs, and just how long it took the electricity to come back on back then. There are full books written on the storm -- many of which are available at the James Blackstone Memorial Library -- and while I'm combing through them, I'm hoping that our intrepid Patch readers will come up with those details in the comments yet again.

I'm excited to see what you come up with!

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What do you know -- or remember -- about the hurricane of 1938?

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