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Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England
A groundbreaking account of the cataclysmic hurricane of 1938 and its devastating impact on New England’s inland forests
The hurricane that pummeled the northeastern United States on September 21, 1938, was New England’s most damaging weather event ever. To call it “New England’s Katrina” might be to understate its power. Without warning, the storm plowed into Long Island and New England, killing hundreds of people and destroying roads, bridges, dams, and buildings that stood in its path. Not yet spent, the hurricane then raced inland, maintaining high winds into Vermont and New Hampshire and uprooting millions of acres of forest. This book is the first to investigate how the hurricane of ’38 transformed New England, bringing about social and ecological changes that can still be observed these many decades later.
The hurricane’s impact was erratic—some swaths of forest were destroyed while others nearby remained unscathed; some stricken forests retain their prehurricane character, others have been transformed. Stephen Long explores these contradictions, drawing on survivors’ vivid memories of the storm and its aftermath and on his own familiarity with New England’s forests, where he discovers clues to the storm’s legacies even now. Thirty-Eight is a gripping story of a singularly destructive hurricane. It also provides important and insightful information on how best to prepare for the inevitable next great storm.
The hurricane that pummeled the northeastern United States on September 21, 1938, was New England’s most damaging weather event ever. To call it “New England’s Katrina” might be to understate its power. Without warning, the storm plowed into Long Island and New England, killing hundreds of people and destroying roads, bridges, dams, and buildings that stood in its path. Not yet spent, the hurricane then raced inland, maintaining high winds into Vermont and New Hampshire and uprooting millions of acres of forest. This book is the first to investigate how the hurricane of ’38 transformed New England, bringing about social and ecological changes that can still be observed these many decades later.
The hurricane’s impact was erratic—some swaths of forest were destroyed while others nearby remained unscathed; some stricken forests retain their prehurricane character, others have been transformed. Stephen Long explores these contradictions, drawing on survivors’ vivid memories of the storm and its aftermath and on his own familiarity with New England’s forests, where he discovers clues to the storm’s legacies even now. Thirty-Eight is a gripping story of a singularly destructive hurricane. It also provides important and insightful information on how best to prepare for the inevitable next great storm.
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 4, 2017
If you're a displaced New Englander like me, this book will make you homesick. I grew up hearing about the thirty-eight hurricane from my parents and other family members, so the thirty-eight hurricane was always part of my heritage. For instance, we had a cribbage board that my granddad made from a black walnut tree that came down in the thirty-eight hurricane. I learned more about the hurricane and hurricanes in general than I ever knew, but I also learned things I never knew about New England from this book. Things about the lay of the land, about farming in New England, and about the history of the settlement and migration in, out, and around New England. I also learned that another hurricane like Thirty-eight is unlikely to happen very often - Thirty-eight was a 100-year storm. The trouble with 100-year storms is that people forget how bad they were, and what the recovery was like, and when they finally do happen again, nobody is prepared mentally, let alone prepped physically. A hurricane like Thirty-eight could happen again, right in the same area, following the same path, and could be more destructive than Thirty-eight because there are more people, more buildings, more cars, and more trees in New England now than ever before.
April 28, 2016
This forest-centered perspective on the Hurricane of 1938, engagingly written by an expert on the northeastern woodland, is well worth reading by anyone interested in this epic storm and its long-term effects on the landscape of New England.
April 26, 2016
This was mostly about the lumber industry and the agriculture of lumber. I was looking forward to first hand stories from people who were there and although there were some it was mostly about wood.
April 1, 2019
This book is about the impact the hurricane in 1938 had on the forests in New England. It gives background about hurricanes and the forests in New England, then it tells about various families who had businesses revolving around the forests.
It then describes how the hurricane changed the forests into what they are today. The book is kind of boring as it is only about the forests, but it has a lot of information and personal stories.
It then describes how the hurricane changed the forests into what they are today. The book is kind of boring as it is only about the forests, but it has a lot of information and personal stories.
June 25, 2019
I expected information about a hurricane, maybe meteorology, news accounts, stories from people, accounts of the destruction,etc. Instead about 10 out of 12 chapters were basically devoted to the history of the pine tree in New England. The title was very misleading. Read this only if you have a great interest in how the hurricane affected trees.
April 20, 2024
3.75 out of 5
March 17, 2017
I've read 4 books on the 1938 New England/Long Island Express hurricane, and I ended up saving the best for last. While I enjoyed the previous three books, they all focused on coastal impacts. This focused on inland impacts, an area I knew little about. Better yet, the author does a phenomenal job explaining aspects of forestry and forest ecology, such that someone unversed in the subject can learn quite a bit. Not only did I learn about how New England's inland communities and forests were impacted by '38, but I learned a bit about forests and trees in general that I never knew. I likely won't look at a stand of trees the same way again. The book is filled with interesting examples of how you can still see '38's impact on the landscape today. It was engaging and informative throughout, rarely dry or too sluggish, despite being a somewhat academic topic. I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed this one quite a bit. This book is an essential part of fully understanding of the 1938 New England hurricane. I recommend Aviles' "Taken by Storm" to understand the meteorology and Burns' "The Great Hurricane" to understand the coastal impacts of the storm.
July 26, 2016
There are some fascinating facts here about how the forests of New England were changed by farming, logging, and the hurricane of 1938. Much about forestry, maybe more than most laymen can tolerate, but that can be skimmed. Slim book with a lot of information and passion for the topic.
July 21, 2016
Long presents a very unique point of view - the forests of New England.
August 28, 2019
A deep look into New England, its environment, its people and the transformation of the pastoral land.
January 7, 2018
Wonderful story of the 1938 hurricane and how the NE forest recovered. Nice perspective on the Harvard Forest and its role in climate research over the decades. Good for tree geeks :-)
December 6, 2024
Unfortunately for Stephen Long, I read his Thirty-Eight immediately after reading a book by John McPhee. McPhee is a master of the extended expository essay, and he often tackles topics that involve science, as Long does in this book. McPhee's books are built like Swiss watches and the author is barely visible within the narrative, which creates the odd effect of experiencing whatever events he is writing about, but with subtext. It is like going through life with a voice-over narrator in your head, providing you with all sorts of background information that explains what you are witnessing. While Long may be aiming for that, he seems like too personable a guy to operate with McPhee's controlled remove.
The result is a book about the New England hurricane of 1938 that takes an original perspective—what was the storm's effect on the region's forest?—and presents the voices of a lot of interesting people who either still remembered the maelstrom they had experienced over 70 years earlier or study it (and events like it) for a living. Long leans heavily on the personnel at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Mass., which was badly damaged by the hurricane, but he also speaks with farmers and loggers/millers from New Hampshire and Vermont whose families were directly affected and worked hard to recover from the economic blow.
Eighty or 90 percent of northern New England is forested and the forest-products industry employs a lot of people and generates a lot of income for municipalities throughout the region. Most readers of this book probably don't know this and Long does not really go into it in any detail, so the uninitiated may think this is 300 pages about some esoteric obsession. Who cares about the forest? some might say. What about the people? (That is what a lot of the 1- and 2-star reviewers said, anyway.) In fact, more present-day residents of the this region are more likely to take the forest for granted than did so in 1938. Very little of the population growth in New Hampshire or Vermont has consisted of people who were interested in either forestry as a career or forest stewardship as a duty of land ownership. The forest for most people is just scenery.
Long, who is the founding editor of Northern Woodlands magazine, is at his best when he is writing about forest ecology. Thirty-Eight is an unexpectedly good primer on this topic. He also briefly but clearly describes what the forest was like before European settlement and how that cultural event changed it. The forest that was knocked over in 1938 was a very different one than was hit by the hurricane of 1635 or 1816. He does not, however, describe the evolution of the forest-products industry as fully, which is a shame because much forest ecology was funded in order to create the scientific approach to timber harvest that now characterizes the whole enterprise.
The big player in New England is the eastern white pine, which is the tallest tree in the region's forest. That height and the nature of its canopy means it catches the wind and gets knocked over more easily than hardwoods. White pine is a pioneer species that germinates and grows well in sunshine. This means it became much more common after New England's farmland was abandoned than it was before the land was cleared for agriculture. Sugar maples were also made locally more common because of the historical economic importance of sugaring as a supplementary income. The shallow-rooted maples in their sugar-bushes went over in the 100-mile-per-hour winds too.
Long lives in Corinth, Vt., which was hit hard by the '38 hurricane. Toward the end of the book he does a little of his own research to understand better some of the phenomena he sees on the landscape around his home. This is interesting but he skates through it pretty quickly. It would have been more interesting had he drilled down into this aspect of his narrative and integrated it better with his stories of the farming families that he told us about earlier.
This is a good book, and it is about an event that is going to recur and will probably wreak even more havoc, as Long is at pains to point out in the final chapter, the next time a full-size hurricane (not a tropical storm or a nor'easter) comes through. The author is very clear about the likely consequences. For one thing, the New Deal was in full swing in 1938 and therefore the government managed this disaster well. The timber felled by the storm could have flooded the market and ruined the industry, but instead the federal goverment set up storage areas for the wood, paid landowners for the salvage, and released it into the market slowly. Much of it was used for the war effort three years later. We live in a very different political climate now, even more different from '38 than 2012, when this book was published. When the next hurricane hits, we will be much more on our own. And it won't be pretty.
The result is a book about the New England hurricane of 1938 that takes an original perspective—what was the storm's effect on the region's forest?—and presents the voices of a lot of interesting people who either still remembered the maelstrom they had experienced over 70 years earlier or study it (and events like it) for a living. Long leans heavily on the personnel at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Mass., which was badly damaged by the hurricane, but he also speaks with farmers and loggers/millers from New Hampshire and Vermont whose families were directly affected and worked hard to recover from the economic blow.
Eighty or 90 percent of northern New England is forested and the forest-products industry employs a lot of people and generates a lot of income for municipalities throughout the region. Most readers of this book probably don't know this and Long does not really go into it in any detail, so the uninitiated may think this is 300 pages about some esoteric obsession. Who cares about the forest? some might say. What about the people? (That is what a lot of the 1- and 2-star reviewers said, anyway.) In fact, more present-day residents of the this region are more likely to take the forest for granted than did so in 1938. Very little of the population growth in New Hampshire or Vermont has consisted of people who were interested in either forestry as a career or forest stewardship as a duty of land ownership. The forest for most people is just scenery.
Long, who is the founding editor of Northern Woodlands magazine, is at his best when he is writing about forest ecology. Thirty-Eight is an unexpectedly good primer on this topic. He also briefly but clearly describes what the forest was like before European settlement and how that cultural event changed it. The forest that was knocked over in 1938 was a very different one than was hit by the hurricane of 1635 or 1816. He does not, however, describe the evolution of the forest-products industry as fully, which is a shame because much forest ecology was funded in order to create the scientific approach to timber harvest that now characterizes the whole enterprise.
The big player in New England is the eastern white pine, which is the tallest tree in the region's forest. That height and the nature of its canopy means it catches the wind and gets knocked over more easily than hardwoods. White pine is a pioneer species that germinates and grows well in sunshine. This means it became much more common after New England's farmland was abandoned than it was before the land was cleared for agriculture. Sugar maples were also made locally more common because of the historical economic importance of sugaring as a supplementary income. The shallow-rooted maples in their sugar-bushes went over in the 100-mile-per-hour winds too.
Long lives in Corinth, Vt., which was hit hard by the '38 hurricane. Toward the end of the book he does a little of his own research to understand better some of the phenomena he sees on the landscape around his home. This is interesting but he skates through it pretty quickly. It would have been more interesting had he drilled down into this aspect of his narrative and integrated it better with his stories of the farming families that he told us about earlier.
This is a good book, and it is about an event that is going to recur and will probably wreak even more havoc, as Long is at pains to point out in the final chapter, the next time a full-size hurricane (not a tropical storm or a nor'easter) comes through. The author is very clear about the likely consequences. For one thing, the New Deal was in full swing in 1938 and therefore the government managed this disaster well. The timber felled by the storm could have flooded the market and ruined the industry, but instead the federal goverment set up storage areas for the wood, paid landowners for the salvage, and released it into the market slowly. Much of it was used for the war effort three years later. We live in a very different political climate now, even more different from '38 than 2012, when this book was published. When the next hurricane hits, we will be much more on our own. And it won't be pretty.
April 23, 2020
For an assignment to my undergraduate course on Natural Hazards, I asked the students to review a popular non-fiction or fictionalized account of an important disaster event. My hazard selection was the 1938 ‘Long Island Express’ Hurricane, chosen because I didn’t know much of anything about it, and because it seemed like a freakish event to have a tropical cyclone strike New England! I found a recent book about the storm, and came home with Thirty-eight: The hurricane that transformed New England by Stephen Long. To my great pleasure, I got much more than a book about a singular weather event; I received a rich and rewarding education on multi-generational processes involving forest ecology, economic history, and landscape transformation of the complex woodlands of the Northeast.
Long’s book is the product of his 25 years as a student of New England’s forests, both as a capable forest manager and as the founding editor of Northern Woodlands, a journal dedicated to the “exploration of the way rural life, stewardship, and appreciation for the natural world converge in today’s woods.” A fellowship to study at the Harvard Forest led to his in-depth examination of the impacts of the 1938 hurricane on forests and families from Long Island to Quebec. As a result of the 100+ mph sustained winds during the storm, over 30,000 small farm families across 15 million acres were affected, as over 2.6 billion board feet of timber was laid in a few short hours. In ten delightful chapters, Long teaches us about the settlement conditions that preceded the storm, the immediate aftermath of the storm, and the long-lasting impacts of the winds on the current and future forests.
A real strength of Thirty-eight is Long’s extensive knowledge of local lore and genuine farm folks. He takes us on a journey through the past by interviewing dozens of storm survivors, replete with essential details from one harrowing September day 80 years past. The oral histories of depression-era New England farmers add tremendous flavor to the event, and are made even more captivating by Long’s additional notes, including colloquialisms and explanations of a Yankee consistency to avoid ever admitting fear. Long enhances his story with fabulous tidbits, for example the farmer who “pronounces the word hurricane [so that] it sounds like HAIR-a-cane, making it seem just as exotic as it did to all those people who in 1938 had their first taste of one.”
The story of the storm is captivating, but the real majesty of this book is the recovery effort, both of the people and of the forest. On the heels of the blowdown, farmers and factories alike had to figure out what to do with all the white pine and other species laying bare across three states for former forest. Depression-era politics kicked in sweetly and swiftly to form the Northeastern Timber Salvage Administration, a risky but necessary federally-financed corporation that salvaged 560 million board feet of wood in a few quick years. The federal involvement was critical to preserving a way of life in the northeastern woods, as almost 14,000 landowners received over $8 million in payouts for their downed timber. The influx of wood aided local box board factories, helping make the U.S. ready for World War II, and eventually recovered 91% of its investment, all the while putting thousands of Forest Service, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Works Progress Administration works onto the task of putting New England back to work.
Thirty-eight is pleasurable, informative, and genuine. Long’s explanations of the complex details behind hurricane paths, forest succession, and resource economics are woven together with colorful local language that takes the reader back to the time, to the place, and to the feeling of living beneath the devastating winds of New England’s worst storm in 200 years.
https://stephenlong.net/
Long’s book is the product of his 25 years as a student of New England’s forests, both as a capable forest manager and as the founding editor of Northern Woodlands, a journal dedicated to the “exploration of the way rural life, stewardship, and appreciation for the natural world converge in today’s woods.” A fellowship to study at the Harvard Forest led to his in-depth examination of the impacts of the 1938 hurricane on forests and families from Long Island to Quebec. As a result of the 100+ mph sustained winds during the storm, over 30,000 small farm families across 15 million acres were affected, as over 2.6 billion board feet of timber was laid in a few short hours. In ten delightful chapters, Long teaches us about the settlement conditions that preceded the storm, the immediate aftermath of the storm, and the long-lasting impacts of the winds on the current and future forests.
A real strength of Thirty-eight is Long’s extensive knowledge of local lore and genuine farm folks. He takes us on a journey through the past by interviewing dozens of storm survivors, replete with essential details from one harrowing September day 80 years past. The oral histories of depression-era New England farmers add tremendous flavor to the event, and are made even more captivating by Long’s additional notes, including colloquialisms and explanations of a Yankee consistency to avoid ever admitting fear. Long enhances his story with fabulous tidbits, for example the farmer who “pronounces the word hurricane [so that] it sounds like HAIR-a-cane, making it seem just as exotic as it did to all those people who in 1938 had their first taste of one.”
The story of the storm is captivating, but the real majesty of this book is the recovery effort, both of the people and of the forest. On the heels of the blowdown, farmers and factories alike had to figure out what to do with all the white pine and other species laying bare across three states for former forest. Depression-era politics kicked in sweetly and swiftly to form the Northeastern Timber Salvage Administration, a risky but necessary federally-financed corporation that salvaged 560 million board feet of wood in a few quick years. The federal involvement was critical to preserving a way of life in the northeastern woods, as almost 14,000 landowners received over $8 million in payouts for their downed timber. The influx of wood aided local box board factories, helping make the U.S. ready for World War II, and eventually recovered 91% of its investment, all the while putting thousands of Forest Service, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Works Progress Administration works onto the task of putting New England back to work.
Thirty-eight is pleasurable, informative, and genuine. Long’s explanations of the complex details behind hurricane paths, forest succession, and resource economics are woven together with colorful local language that takes the reader back to the time, to the place, and to the feeling of living beneath the devastating winds of New England’s worst storm in 200 years.
https://stephenlong.net/
April 23, 2019
This is an excellent book and not at all what I expected. I grew up hearing about this event and have seen some of the features described in the book. I had thought it was going to be a sociological view of the misfortunes of Vermonters during the 1938 Hurricane and their struggles in the face of adversity. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was something completely different. Long describes the destruction of the forests and the government response. The first part of the book describes the destruction of white pines in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The middle part deals with the destruction of hardwoods and other species in eastern Vermont and northern New Hampshire. The end of the book describes the clean up of the forest and why cleanup would likely be done differently today.
Long incorporates a long view of the climate into his discussion. Rather than link this event to global warming and copping a 'sky is falling' attitude, he explains the climate in its proper context over the course of history. Similar events today are narrowly viewed in the context of global warming. Particularly interesting was a single statement that he made about destructive hurricanes that occur in Puerto Rico. They appear in clusters for a few years and then there are years in which there is relatively little activity. I have made a career out of environmental work and am a student of climatology. I think that Long has it spot on.
If you are interested in a good well written book about resource management in the forests in the northeast and the damaged done to them by natural events, and a nice little explanation of the reason why forest fires are less destructive here than in the far west, I highly recommend this book. If you have swallowed the Kool-Aid on Global Warming and believe we are going to all die in the next few years from our lifestyles I would suggest you read a self help book and lay on a couch while someone holds your hand.
Long incorporates a long view of the climate into his discussion. Rather than link this event to global warming and copping a 'sky is falling' attitude, he explains the climate in its proper context over the course of history. Similar events today are narrowly viewed in the context of global warming. Particularly interesting was a single statement that he made about destructive hurricanes that occur in Puerto Rico. They appear in clusters for a few years and then there are years in which there is relatively little activity. I have made a career out of environmental work and am a student of climatology. I think that Long has it spot on.
If you are interested in a good well written book about resource management in the forests in the northeast and the damaged done to them by natural events, and a nice little explanation of the reason why forest fires are less destructive here than in the far west, I highly recommend this book. If you have swallowed the Kool-Aid on Global Warming and believe we are going to all die in the next few years from our lifestyles I would suggest you read a self help book and lay on a couch while someone holds your hand.
July 28, 2018
Growing up in New England, I love reading about the hurricane of 38. I had mixed reviews on this one. I felt the author did an incredible job describing the aftermath of the storm in northern New England and describing how the forestry industry was impacted. However, I was disappointed the he did not get into the storm itself and what people experienced as the storm was ongoing. I also felt there was some bias as he only used only a few first hand accounts. I realize we live in a time where people of that generation is quickly passing but there has to accounts or records somewhere explaining people's reactions, etc. I guess I was looking for more when I normally read something on this massive storm.
March 11, 2025
If you are looking for a history of the 1938 New England hurricane written from the human interest perspective, this is not the book for you. As others have mentioned in their reviews, if you want the human interest story you should read Cherie Burns and/or R.A. Scotti. The book synopsis states the scope of this book quite clearly. Long has written a good analysis of the forests in 1938, how they were impacted by the hurricane, and how these areas recovered (or not). There is a lot of information about trees and forests. He's a bit repetitive occasionally but overall the book is well written. If you are interested in ecology, forestry or the impact of natural disasters, I recommend this work.
October 3, 2022
A fast moving hurricane, dubbed the “Long Island express” blew down acres of wood—mainly white pine—and jumpstarted a clean up and salvage effort like no other. Yet, forest scientists and researchers seem to have come to the conclusion that when the next big one hits New England, it might be best to leave the forest floor as is, but surrounded by fire barriers.
Interesting as this topic is not your everyday topic, but could get overly technical in points. Learned a lot though.
Interesting as this topic is not your everyday topic, but could get overly technical in points. Learned a lot though.
January 9, 2018
Very dense book, with a lot of scientific information about storms, forests, and weather. I felt it read like a quasi textbook. While I learned some things, much of the material was too detailed for me.t
December 30, 2020
Although the title may suggest a simple story of the 1938 hurricane, this book is a gem of environmental history, combining oral history, history of science, and cultural history. Taking the devastation wrought to the forests of New England by the hurricane of 1938 as a focal point, Long explores the history of ideas related to everything from forestry to rural depopulation.
March 8, 2024
This book isn't really about a hurricane or the forests. More like a socioeconomic look at early 1900s-1930s New England... I read disaster books and forestry books so I thought this would be amazing but alas its meanders in unexpected ways.
September 25, 2017
Though a different approach to this event, quite an interesting read. I'll certainly never look at a blow-down area the same way after learning what the forest can tell us.
August 15, 2025
This book is about the lumber industry issues after the hurricane of thirty eight. Well researched and interesting.
April 9, 2016
Yale University Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England, in exchange for an honest review.
On September 21, 1938, New England's most damaging hurricane hit and no state from New York to New Hampshire was left unscathed. Causing what is equivalent in today's revenue to $5 billion dollars worth of damage, the storm killed hundreds of people, destroyed bridges, roads, dams, and buildings. The ecological devastation, however, has effected the way that our landscape has responded to storms ever since, as many of the old growth trees were toppled.
Author Stephen Long takes the reader on a journey, weaving facts with personal accounts from survivors of the storm. One example is Fred Hunt, who was 14 at the time of the '38 storm. As a direct result of his experiences, Fred became an expert on white pines in New Hampshire, earning PhD in the study of them and their effects on water supply. Photos of the devastation dot the pages, along with charts and graphs which help to streamline large amounts of complex information. With information on hurricanes, tropical storms, and the origin of the system of naming storms, this book is more than the title implies. Thirty-Eight is a comprehensive look at weather and weather patterns, other storms, economical, and ecological issues. Author Stephen Long has clearly done his research, as this book is well documented and filled with both personal and professional accounts of the storm. I was disappointed that the majority of information in this book was not about the '38 hurricane, but the author did do a good job in conveying the reasons as to why it is important to study the storm and the aftermath. Thirty-Eight was a good book, but not as comprehensive as I was expecting.
On September 21, 1938, New England's most damaging hurricane hit and no state from New York to New Hampshire was left unscathed. Causing what is equivalent in today's revenue to $5 billion dollars worth of damage, the storm killed hundreds of people, destroyed bridges, roads, dams, and buildings. The ecological devastation, however, has effected the way that our landscape has responded to storms ever since, as many of the old growth trees were toppled.
Author Stephen Long takes the reader on a journey, weaving facts with personal accounts from survivors of the storm. One example is Fred Hunt, who was 14 at the time of the '38 storm. As a direct result of his experiences, Fred became an expert on white pines in New Hampshire, earning PhD in the study of them and their effects on water supply. Photos of the devastation dot the pages, along with charts and graphs which help to streamline large amounts of complex information. With information on hurricanes, tropical storms, and the origin of the system of naming storms, this book is more than the title implies. Thirty-Eight is a comprehensive look at weather and weather patterns, other storms, economical, and ecological issues. Author Stephen Long has clearly done his research, as this book is well documented and filled with both personal and professional accounts of the storm. I was disappointed that the majority of information in this book was not about the '38 hurricane, but the author did do a good job in conveying the reasons as to why it is important to study the storm and the aftermath. Thirty-Eight was a good book, but not as comprehensive as I was expecting.
November 16, 2016
This books focuses on the path through upper New England as it deforested and laid bare the lands of Vermont and New Hampshire. It killed hundreds of people, leveled buildings, destroyed roads and dams. Some areas of New England have still not recovered as many of the old-growth trees have not regenerated. This book addresses weather phenomena and other economical and ecological effects of this hurricane and is a little science-y in parts with graphs and maps. I wanted to know more about the social effects of this "greatest natural disaster", pre-storm and post-storm.
April 25, 2016
Engaging and very interesting description of the structure of forests and how they grow, change and respond to disruptions, with photos and journal entries from the time of the 1938 hurricane.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews