"The seeds of the flood could be traced back to the wettest summer in many years. Frequent and protracted rainy spells had kept the ground soaked for weeks and then on Sept. 13 another period of rain set in. For eight days it fell intermittently, totaling seven inches in Brattleboro."
So was the description from a special 10 cent supplement published by the Brattleboro Daily Reformer just after the hurricane of 1938 to illustrate the extent of the damage in Brattleboro and surrounding towns.
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On Wednesday September 21, 1938 a Category 5 hurricane that had been coming up the east coast hit New England dead-on as a category 3 storm near New Haven, leveling trees and structures with wind damage and adding heavy rains to an already soaked landscape. It took a path up the Connecticut River valley in an almost straight line, where it turned further inland, crossed over upper New York state and eventually died out in Canada.
New Englander's had little warning. It hit Brattleboro at about 4 in the afternoon. Electricity was out from 5:30 past midnight. The storm built up strength over the next few hours (moving at about 50 mph, with winds over a hundred miles per hour) and pounded Brattleboro with wind and rain. Thousands of trees were damaged.
Streams and rivers overflowed, wiping out bridges and roads. The Connecticut and West River rose and flooded.
The Whetstone Brook flooded Flat, Elm, Frost and Williams streets as well as portions of West Brattleboro.
The Deerfield river took out a cement bridge in Wilmington. West Dover lost a covered bridge. Putney had roads washed away. Grafton lost nearly a dozen bridges to the Saxtons River. Spofford lost trees all around the lake.
Power and phone communication was lost due to downed poles. Train service was interrupted for a week.
The Brattleboro highway team and WPA workers were said to have streets opened in just a couple of days.
No deaths or injuries in town, but Brattleboro estimated the cost for damage at $15-20,000, mostly in the form of stately old shade trees. (Cedar Street lost four large trees in a row to the winds.)
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One of the lighter local moments of the storm and flood started out somewhat ominous. Madeline Moore, 17, disappeared just before the storm according to the special report. Her parents worried for three days until they learned that she had eloped with a chef who worked in their restaurant. Not dead; happily married.