Has anyone heard about the storm?

where did u hear this? and when is it supposed to hit?

HUH? Storm? Do I have to grab Todo and run? I didn't hear anything...is it on the weather channel or is it a 'possible prediction' for the future?

Don't get me freaked out here I have seen too many hurricanes on the little ole' east end of North Fork...

Can I hide up west w/ you guys?

Yeah its been on the news a lot!! They said we are due for one within the next five years!! And this hurricane season is going to be REALLY REALLY horrible!!! The town house we live in is close to bald hill so we are high and we live on the second floor.. so when and if the time comes.. u can all stay with us

read this - STORM

That is scary shi* if you ask me!

Are we talking Hurricane or like Tsunami?

New York, NY - March 20, 2006) - The northeast U.S. coast could be the target of a major hurricane, perhaps as early as this season, according to research announced today by the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center. In terms of number of storms, the 2006 hurricane season will again be more active than normal, but less active than last summer's historic storm season.

'The Northeast is staring down the barrel of a gun,' said Joe Bastardi, Chief Forecaster of the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center. 'The Northeast coast is long overdue for a powerful hurricane, and with the weather patterns and hydrology we're seeing in the oceans, the likelihood of a major hurricane making landfall in the Northeast is not a question of if but when.'

AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center research meteorologists have identified weather cycles that indicate which U.S. coastal areas are most susceptible to landfalls. 'If you examine past weather cycles that have occurred in the Atlantic, you will see patterns of storms,' added Ken Reeves, Expert Senior Meteorologist and Director of Forecasting Operations at AccuWeather.com. 'Determination of where we are in the cycle has enabled AccuWeather.com meteorologists to accurately predict hurricane activity in Florida in 2004 and along the Gulf Coast last year. There are indications that the Northeast will experience a hurricane larger and more powerful than anything that region has seen in a long time.'

The current cycle and above-normal water temperatures are reminiscent of the pattern that eventually produced the 1938 hurricane that struck Providence, R.I. That storm killed 600 people in New England and Long Island. The 1938 hurricane was the strongest tropical system to strike the northeastern U.S. in recorded history, with maximum gusts of 186 mph, a 15- to 20-foot storm surge and 25- to 50-foot waves that left much of Providence under 10-15 feet of water. Forecasters at AccuWeather.com say that patterns are similar to those of the 1930s, 40s and 50s when storms such as the 1938 hurricane, the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricanes and the Trio of 1954--Carol, Edna and Hazel--battered the coast from the Carolinas to New England. The worry is that it will be sooner, rather than later, for this region to be blasted again.

Additionally, AccuWeather.com believes that the upper Texas coast is likely to be the target of higher than normal hurricane and tropical storm activity over the next 10 years. 'Hurricane Rita was a warning shot,' says AccuWeather.com's Bastardi, referring to the 2005 Category 5 storm that threatened the Houston area and made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border last September. 'The Texas coast is in for a long period of tropical activity, particularly the region from Corpus Christi to Sabine Pass at the Louisiana border.'

According to AccuWeather.com, the 2006 tropical storm season will still be more active than normal, but less active than last year, with fewer storms than 2005's record 26 named storms and 14 hurricanes.

However, the threat of a devastating storm striking the most densely populated part of the United States is of serious concern, particularly coming so soon after Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest weather disasters in U.S. history.

The 1938 hurricane resulted in more than $306 million in damage which, when adjusted for inflation, would total nearly $6 billion today. Because coastal areas are much more developed and populous today, a similar storm would result in substantially higher damage despite government efforts to protect U.S. citizens and property.

By comparison, insurance claims resulting from damage due to Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at $23 billion, making it the costliest storm in U.S. history. The density and value of developed property in the northeastern U.S. means that the damage from a direct hit from a major storm similar to the 1938 hurricane might conceivably rival or surpass that of Hurricane Katrina.

Because a hurricane of this magnitude has not made landfall in the northeastern U.S. in nearly 60 years, few Americans are even aware that hurricanes can and do directly impact this part of the country. Because most hurricanes in the last 50 years have been a southern U.S. phenomenon, preparedness for a major hurricane along the Northeast coast is not as thorough. But the storm that struck Providence on Sept. 21, 1938, traveled northward along the Gulf Stream and first made landfall in Westhampton, Long Island before ripping a path across the island and continuing north to Rhode Island. That storm is still regarded as the greatest weather disaster in Long Island history. It altered the Long Island coastline, created the Shinnecock Inlet, and has since been known as 'the Long Island Express.' Many meteorologists believe that the next time a storm like 'the Long Island Express' hits the Northeast coast, it could become the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Before

omg I'm scared!!!! That isn't good at all. Girls if its going to happen let it after us 07ers get married

Ahhhh....It's times like these I love living in Albuquerque....where our biggest problems that we make the news for are Runaway Brides and Alien sightings...

I was reading about that in Newsday yesterday... Damn! here's hoping it's not as bad as they say it is...

Or at least that enough people hear about it and get their heads out of the sand and get themselves prepared. Being prepared will probably make the damage and loss of life a lot less!

We are totally due for a storm.. I hope it doesn't ruin an 06'ers weddings

If it happens it happens, nothing all of us worrying about it possibly five years in advance going to do to stop it.

Hopefully we will all have learned something from Katrina and if we are told to evacuate, we will.

My mom was telling me about this last night!!

Wow that is scary!!

Damage Caused by Storm of 1938



Time Magazine, 1998
The total cost of the Long Island Express in terms of lives lost or disrupted, homes destroyed or damaged, and economic impact was staggering. Describing all of the damage caused by the hurricane has filled entire books so this Web page will summarize the total damage and focus on the damage incurred on Long Island, New York.

Total estimated damage from the 1938 Hurricane:

700 deaths, 708 injured
4,500 homes, cottages, farms destroyed; 15,000 damaged
26,000 destroyed automobiles
20,000 miles of electrical power and telephone lines downed
1,700 livestock and up to 750,000 chickens killed
$2,610,000 worth of fishing boats, equipment, docks, and shore plants damaged or destroyed
Half the entire apple crop destroyed at a cost of $2 million
More than 50 lives were lost on Long Island that day - 29 of them at or near Westhampton Beach. The bodies were laid out on the country club lawn in Westhampton later the next day. Total cost of the storm for Long Island was estimated to be $6.2 million, in 1938 prices, between Jones Inlet and Montauk Point. (Morris & Bleyer, 1998) Total cost of the storm throughout the northeast in 1998 dollars would place the 1938 Hurricane as the 6th costliest storm of all time (TIME, 1998).

Westhampton, with 28 dead and 4 missing a month later, with at least 150 houses destroyed and a property loss of $2 million, was the worst hit of all the Long Island communities. A mile inland, the storm surge had caused over 6 feet of water to flood Main Street (Allen, 1976).

Southhampton suffered heavily along the shore front. From the bathing house to the municipal beach, only two cottages remained standing after the sea swept Dune Road. Among the shattered ruins was St. Andrew's Church of the Dunes, the scene of many society weddings over the years (Allen, 1976).


At Bridgehampton, the farmers were heavy losers; nearly 50 barns went down from Water Mill to Wainscott and north to the line of the Scuttle Hole Road. Potato farmers near the ocean found many acres washed out, washed away, or buried deep beneath sand from the beach. On other fields that had been flooded with sea water, the potatoes rotted soon after being dug. Farmers lost garages, chicken houses, and outbuildings, as well as barns; there were more than 80 places with such losses (Allen, 1976).




From East Hampton to the east, it was fisherman who paid the storm's toll. At Montauk, the hurricane rendered 150 fisherman homeless, destroyed or badly damaged more than 80 good-sized fishing craft, ruined scores of dragnets and fish traps, valued in some cases at $10,000 each, and came close to wiping out the sole year-round industry at Montauk. About 100 houses were seriously damaged, six ending in the pond near the center of town; all power and lights were lost; the storm tore up miles of track along the Long Island Railroad - near Montauk Point, even the roadbed was obliterated - and the community was virtually isolated from the time the hurricane struck until two days later. 29 vessels, some worth as much as $25,000, had been blown ashore and lay from 100 to 300 feet up the beach, costing a fortune to repair (Allen, 1976). The oyster and clam industry was also wiped out as tons of sand smothered the entire harvest.

On the day after the storm, Lieutenant Theodore Harris of the Coast Guard flew the length of of Long Island for eight hours trying to spot bodies and report their location. He saw 300 crushed and scattered houses at Ocean Beach, 100 demolished houses at Fair Harbor and another 100 at Saltaire. There were about 40 houses largely inundated at Little Cap Tree Island. Approaching Westhampton, he said that the land had the appearance of a child's room on New Year's Day, with all his toy houses and automobiles broken and warped. At least 100 automobiles were washed inland (Allen, 1976).


12 new inlets were created by the tremendous storm surge. Moriches Inlet, created by a winter storm in 1931, was widened substantially and Shinnecock Inlet was born. As will be discussed later, the creation of this inlet is affecting coastal Long Island still today. All other inlets were filled in with the wreckage of the storm, especially the automobiles, as well as with tons of sand brought in by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Tree damage was extensive throughout New York and New England where an estimated 2 billion trees were lost. (Francis, 1998) An estimated 3,500 trees were lost in the Bridgehampton-Sagaponack-Hayground area alone. Trees were down everywhere but there was a particularly heart-breaking story in East Hampton. The elms and locusts that formed an arch a half-mile long over Main Street had been planted before the American Revolution; they can still be seen in the canvases of many important painters. the trees were among the town's most cherished historical landmarks, but when the storm was over, 42 percent of the Main Street elms were gone. 68 trees lie in the middle of the road torn to pieces (Allen, 1976).

Salt spray from wind-blown sea water and mixed rain water also had the effect of browning trees that did survive. Weeks later these trees were dead. One can still find many downed trees throughout eastern Long Island's forest that are a direct result of this great hurricane. More recently, a study of the Buzzard's Bay coastal region revealed that 50% of the salt-sensitive White Pines were killed by salt spray from Hurricane Bob in 1991 (USGS). In 1938, Long Island salt marshes were inundated with tons of overwash (sand brought over the dune into marshland areas) that prevented the marsh grasses from growing back. This effectively decreased the area of the salt marsh for years.


Click images for larger views of more tree damage.
One positive economic outcome of the 1938 Hurricane was that it effectively ended the unemployment experienced near the end of The Great Depression. At that time most people were out of work and would gladly work for the standard wage of $2 per day. Because so much damage had occurred to homes and buildings and so many trees were blocking roadways, thousands of people flocked to Long Island in search of clean-up work and repair. In fact, more than 2,700 men were brought into New York and New England by Bell Systems just to repair the downed phone lines.


Of course 1938 was the worst the Island has seen but we surely have had quite a few since then. Anyone remember the tornado that hit down on New Suffolk about 7 years ago????