Hurricane Earl

A quick glance at online weather radar shows that the leading edge of the rain accompanying Hurricane Earl has reached Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and continues pushing in this direction so we could see rain by lunch time. Even now (10:15 am) the sky has clouded over and is looking ominous. Other than some stiff wind and a lot of rain, this part of the Merrimack Valley should avoid the worst of the storm.

The same was not the case seventy-two years ago. On September 21, 1938, a devastating hurricane tore through New England, killing hundreds. The storm first made landfall on the outer edge of Long Island and then slammed into the Rhode Island coast and crossed through central Massachusetts and Vermont.

Here in Greater Lowell, the hurricane killed one man, injured dozens and caused at least $1 million in property damage. Here is the beginning of the top story in an "extra" edition of the Lowell Sun published late on the night of Wednesday, September 31, 1938:

Lowell went under martial law tonight as the city was ripped, torn and laid waste by the worst gale in its history. Terrifying in its intensity and rising in whining crescendo to high-pitched moans, the wind hit with hurricane force shortly before 5 p.m. Sweeping in from due east, it rapidly stepped up its velocity to a maximum of 65 miles an hour. It whipsawed every living thing, toppled trees by the hundreds, smashed roofs, doors and windows, menaced life and limb and ran up a property toll that will run into thousands of dollars.