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Hurricanes and Other Disasters

The Providence Journal Publishes Despite the Historic 1886 Flood and the Blizzard of 1888
3 weeks ago

The Providence Journal Publishes Despite the Historic 1886 Flood and the Blizzard of 1888

[From the editor: This article quotes at length from chapter 8 of the following book published in 1904: Half a Century with the Providence Journal, Being a Record of the …
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A Town-by-Town Review of the Hurricane of 1938 in Rhode Island
5 years ago

A Town-by-Town Review of the Hurricane of 1938 in Rhode Island

[Note from the Editor: The following is a town-by-town review of the impact of the destructive Hurricane of 1938. It was written by writers hired by the Federal government in …
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The Great Gale of 1815 Slams into Newport, Providence and Narragansett
6 years ago

The Great Gale of 1815 Slams into Newport, Providence and Narragansett

The Great Gale of 1815 was one of the three strongest hurricanes ever to hit Rhode Island. Communities throughout the state suffered damage. This article quotes from three histories containing …
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A Letter from Gull Rock, Little Compton: A Story of the Hurricane of 1938
6 years ago

A Letter from Gull Rock, Little Compton: A Story of the Hurricane of 1938

In the summer of 2012, I took on the task of organizing and arranging the library and archive at the Western Rhode Island Civic Historical Society, located in the …
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The Larchmont Disaster
7 years ago

The Larchmont Disaster

[Editor’s note:  The author of this article, Lynne Heinzmann, is the author of Frozen Voices, a wonderful new historical novel about the sinking of the SS Larchmont. She does a …
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Rhode Island’s Greatest Steamship Disasters
7 years ago

Rhode Island’s Greatest Steamship Disasters

It should come as no surprise, considering its rich maritime history spanning almost 400 years, that Rhode Island has had numerous marine disasters. As you might suspect, both sailing …
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One Day . . . The Story of a Storm, A Video Documentary of the 1938 Hurricane in Rhode Island
8 years ago

One Day . . . The Story of a Storm, A Video Documentary of the 1938 Hurricane in Rhode Island

“One Day” is a film about how life can change without warning. Your life can be perfectly normal when you get up in the morning and in a shambles by …
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The Hurricane of 1938: An Oral History Told by Nancy Allen Holst,  Forest Fire Warden and Pilot Part II: The Great Timber Blowdown
9 years ago

The Hurricane of 1938: An Oral History Told by Nancy Allen Holst, Forest Fire Warden and Pilot Part II: The Great Timber Blowdown

[Note from the Editor: The following interview appeared in “In the Wake of ’38, Oral history interviews with Rhode Island survivors and witnesses of the devastating hurricane of September 21, …
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The Hurricane of 1938: An Oral History Told by Nancy Allen Holst,  Forest Fire Warden and Pilot Part I: The Devastating Damage She Witnessed
9 years ago

The Hurricane of 1938: An Oral History Told by Nancy Allen Holst, Forest Fire Warden and Pilot Part I: The Devastating Damage She Witnessed

[Note from the Editor: The following interview appeared in “In the Wake of ’38, Oral history interviews with Rhode Island survivors and witnesses of the devastating hurricane of September 21, …
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The Larchmont Disaster Off Block Island, Rhode Island’s Titanic
9 years ago

The Larchmont Disaster Off Block Island, Rhode Island’s Titanic

The Larchmont Disaster, by Joseph and Janice Soares (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2014, $19.99)

 

It has been called the Titanic of Rhode Island, a little remembered disaster that claimed …
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