The 1938 Hurricane Put Downtown Providence Underwater, and Built the Wall That Guards It Now
On September 21, 1938, the storm surge flooded downtown. After Hurricane Carol in 1954, the city built the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier.
On September 21, 1938, the Great New England Hurricane drove a storm surge up Narragansett Bay and flooded downtown Providence. The storm killed 682 people across the region and remains the deadliest hurricane ever to hit New England.
Why did downtown flood so badly?
Downtown Providence sits in a shallow basin only about 8 to 12 feet above sea level, at the head of the bay. When the surge arrived, the business district was submerged, with roughly $120 million in damage in the city alone.
What happened in the city
- Stores downtown were looted, sometimes before the water had gone down.
- The original 1764 charter of Brown University, kept in a downtown bank vault, was washed clean of its text.
- Rail lines along the shore were cut, with bridges destroyed or flooded.
What is the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier?
It’s the wall that keeps it from happening again. After Hurricane Carol flooded downtown a second time in 1954, the barrier was built across the Providence River between 1960 and 1966, about 750 feet upstream from Fox Point. It is 3,000 feet long, with three river gates, each 40 feet wide and weighing 53 tons, that close when a storm surge comes in.
You can see it from the riverwalk south of downtown, on the way to the restaurants in Fox Point.
Sources: Wikipedia, 1938 New England hurricane, Wikipedia, Fox Point Hurricane Barrier.
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