The Great September Gale of 1815 (the word "

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

" was not yet current in American English) is one of five "major hurricanes" (Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale) to strike

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

since 1635. At the time it struck, the Great September Gale was the first hurricane to strike New England in 180 years. After striking on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, the hurricane caused major damage in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Rhode Island suffered the worst damage, as the storm surge flooded towns along

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...

up to and including

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Origin

The hurricane first struck the

Turks Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

near the Bahamas on September 20, with a strength estimated to have been equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane.

Impact

New York

The storm struck Long Island on September 23, 1815, probably coming ashore near

Center Moriches Center Moriches ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 7,580 at the 2010 census. Center Moriches is in the town of Brookhaven. It is the location of the historic Masury Estate B ...

(Ludlum) around 7:00 A.M. On the south shore of Long Island it broke through the barrier beach and created the inlet that still isolates

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, which had previously been an eastward extension of

The Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the ...

Connecticut

Around 9:00 A.M. the storm came ashore at

Saybrook, Connecticut Deep River is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Deep River Center, Connecticut, town center is designated by the U. ...

with the force of what would now be considered a Category 3 hurricane. Waves of up to six feet were reported in

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa * New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town * ...

Rhode Island

Hurricane water levels at Old Market House Providence

The "Great Storm" (or "Great Gale"), as it was known there, hit

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

on the morning of September 23. From about 10:00 A.M. to noon, the storm delivered a storm surge that funneled up

where it destroyed some 500 houses and 35 ships. Dozens of ships were deposited on the streets of Providence. The bowsprit of the ship "Ganges" was smashed into the third story of the Washington Insurance Company building. The Second Baptist Meeting House was destroyed. Most of the buildings on the east side from south of the

Market House A market house is a covered space historically used as a marketplace to exchange goods and services such as provisions or livestock, sometimes combined with spaces for public or civic functions on the upper floors and often with a jail or lockup ...

to India Point were destroyed. At India Point, houses and wharves were destroyed. Both the

Washington Bridge The Washington Bridge is a -long arch bridge over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The crossing, opened in 1888, connects 181st Street (Manhattan), 181st Street and Tenth Avenue (Manhattan), Am ...

and the Central (Red) Bridge were uprooted from their piers and destroyed. The rain appears to have been saturated with salt. The leaves on trees which were not blown away were covered with a white salt coating that resembled a light frost. Even houses turned white. A line on the Old Market Building marks the storm surge that was unsurpassed in the city until the

1938 New England hurricane The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The stor ...

, which brought a storm surge. There is still a worn plaque on the Rhode Island Hospital Trust building (built in 1917), along with a newer plaque showing the higher 1938 hurricane water level. At

Matunuck, Rhode Island Matunuck is a village in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States near Charlestown, Rhode Island. The village is located on a point along the southern Atlantic coast of Rhode Island off U.S. Route 1. The village takes its name from a Nati ...

, sediment studies have identified the overwash fan of sediments in Succotash Marsh, where the 1815 hurricane storm surge overtopped the barrier beach. The financial loss was estimated at one and a half million dollars, one-quarter the total valuation of the city. Fortunately, only two people died, both in India Point. After the storm, much of the Narragansett Bay area was rebuilt with higher riverbanks, raised wharves, and more durable building practices, to help protect against future storms.

Massachusetts

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

, just south of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, local historian William Dana Orcutt wrote in the late 19th century of the hurricane's impact: "In 1815 there was a great gale which destroyed the arch of the bridge over the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

. This arch was erected over the bridge at the dividing line of the towns orchester and Miltonin 1798." Dorchester's First Parish Meeting House was too badly damaged to repair.

New Hampshire

The eye passed into

near Jaffrey and

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

Meteorology

In the aftermath of the Great Gale, the concept of a hurricane as a "moving vortex" was presented by

John Farrar John Clifford Farrar ( ; born 8 November 1946) is an Australian music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Stra ...

, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In an 1819 paper he concluded that the storm "appears to have been a moving vortex and not the rushing forward of a great body of the atmosphere".

References

External links

PBS: American Experience: Timeline of US storm disasters

State of New Hampshire Hazard Mitigation Plans: Great September Gale of 1815

NOAA: The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones
{{DEFAULTSORT:1815 Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons Hurricanes in Massachusetts Great September Gale Great September Gale Hurricanes in Rhode Island Hurricanes in Connecticut Hurricanes in New Hampshire Hurricanes in New York (state) Long Island Hurricanes in New England September 1815 events 1815 meteorology