The Great New England Hurricane of 1938

As Valerie's dementia progressed she was less able to take care of day-to-day tasks, or remember how to do things that had once been simpler - such as warm up her coffee in the microwave. However she also began sharing memories from her childhood and younger years that D.M. had never heard before. One of these memories was about weathering a hurricane in Worcester. Hurricanes weren't named in the United States until 1953¹, so this one didn't have a specific name.

6-year-old Valerie was attending [Name?] Elementary School in Worcester, living in a triple-decker with her mom Alva, her brother Roy, and Grandma Freda Teolk. Valerie was sent home from school due to the approaching storm. Valerie remembers her Grandma Teolk trying to pull in all the laundry, and either couldn't pull it in or having a hard time pulling it in because of the strong winds. She remembered a caged pet (bird or rabbit?) that died because of the changes in air pressure, and remembered her mom Alva crying over the beloved pet. Valerie remembers trees being blown down outside, perhaps like this one in a newspaper photo:

Caption: Ancient Victim of the Storm's Fury

Storm photos from: http://www.worcestermass.com/places/hurricane.shtml

Before and after of the First Unitarian Church in Worcester:

(Before photo found on the American Antiquarian website, here.)

 

Caption: Unitarian Church in Ruins at Worcester, Mass.

In the aftermath of the storm, Valerie remembers seeing her Uncle, Wilbur Nelson (cousin Alfred Nelson's father), walking up to the triple-decker. He had gone out to get milk for his family and he brought milk over for her brother Roy, who was close to the same age as cousin Alfred. 

Here is more general information about the hurricane, from the Massachusetts.gov website:

Undoubtedly, the Massachusetts hurricane of the century was the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. Developing off the Cape Verde Islands on September 4, this storm took an unusual track over the Gulf Stream, maintaining its strength over these warm waters until it crashed into Long Island on September 21. The winds were devastating, with the Blue Hill Observatory recording the strongest winds ever for the region, 121 mph sustained winds and gusts of 186 mph. Roofs, trees, and crops were extensively damaged and power outages were widespread, lasting for weeks in some areas. The storm surge was substantial, causing 18 to 25 foot tides from New London east to Cape Cod. Downtown Providence was covered with 20 feet of storm tide and sections of Falmouth and New Bedford were buried under 8 feet of water. Western Massachusetts saw 3 to 6 inches of rain. In Springfield, the Connecticut River rose 6 to 10 feet above flood stage. Overall, 8,900 buildings were destroyed in New England, and another 15,000 were damaged. Coastal communities were decimated; 2,600 boats were destroyed and another 3,300 damaged, and fishing fleets suffered terribly, with 2,605 vessels destroyed and 3,369 damaged. A total of 564 people were killed and another 1,700 injured in southern New England.²

¹ https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/storm-names.html 

² https://www.mass.gov/service-details/the-worst-massachusetts-hurricanes-of-the-20th-century