Watercolors by Susan Medyn

Tag Archives: Great New england Hurricane

September 21, 2017 · 6:10 am

The Great Hurricane of 1938, beekeeping, art and other musings on life on the shore.

It’s that time of year again and Hurricane Flo has sent us rains and a beautiful sunset. The beehives are battened down and the bees are kicking the drones out.

What an adventure. We started with three hives in the mid-April and we now have seven. I will be attending an apiatherapy conference in late October as I am interested in the medicinal properties of bee byproducts especially propolis.

I have been busy painting all summer.

I have these three 14″ x 11″ paintings,: The Places I Go, Bee Mine, and Bee Happy framed in lovely black and golf frames ready to ship for the special price post studio tour price of $400. Please email me at susanmedyn(at)cox.net if interested. This is a one time half price offer to celebrate the wonders of the fall.

And now to some Hurricane of 1938 photos, art and life on the Rhode Island coast.

Hurricane of ’38, Providence, RI Boatyard

Walking down Ship Street after the waters receded. Men have their trousers rolled up to navigate areas of standing water. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence 1938 September 22

HURRICANE OF ’38, FOREGROUND WRECKAGE, BRIDGE, PROVIDENCE, RI

Harbor area destroyed by storm surge. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Pawtuxet Village 1938 September 22

The tug Monhegan left high and dry by storm surge. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence 1938 September 22

Barber shop of the Grosvenor Building with barber chairs reflected in the remnants of storm surge waters. New England Hurricane of 1938. Rhode Island, Providence

My hurricane photos have been used in several articles. I found these in a quirky antique shop.

Here is one photo being used in Smithsonian Magazine.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-great-new-england-hurricane-of-1938-62061578/

And there are a series of my acquired photos in this article:

http://www.wcvb.com/article/photos-remembering-the-great-hurricane-of-38/8115867

You can see a peek of how my paintings look framed above David Formanek’s latest sculptures.

Here you can see some of the work we displayed for South Coast Artists Open Studio Tours this summer. We thank all our collectors and visitors for coming out and seeing our art.

Stay tuned for more adventures of our coastal Rhode Island life and art. Soon I will be posting my foray into honey elixirs.

Hurricane of 1938

So today passed quietly, not so on September 21st, 1938 when what is now known at The Great New England Hurricane came barreling across Long Island also devastating Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Estimates are that between 682 and 800 people lost their lives in this Category 5 hurricane that turned into a category 3 by the time it hit landfall but kept sending gusts in the category 5 range. Providence was flooded with 13 feet of water in a flash. A 20 to 25 foot wall of water raced up the Sakonnet River laying bare Island Park in Portsmouth.

Fitting that as an artist I found some photos in an antique shop that had been taken with an old Kodak Box camera including this one with a Painting sign left hanging. This image is from the Port of Providence as researched by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. I lent these photos to NOAA for research and historical purposes and they are now in the public record. You can see more images of the impact on Rhode Island on my hurricane page of this website.

As global warming continues the pot will boil more furiously and greater variations in weather patterns are our shameful our future.

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Tagged as Great New england Hurricane, Hurricane of '38, Hurricane of 1938, Providence Port decimated by hurricane., Providence Rhode Island