Wake of '38

Marking the Anniversary...

Every year, we receive several requests to air this documentary! Produced by WSBE ("Channel 36" then, "Rhode Island PBS" now), Wake of '38 tells the story of the hurricane that struck southern New England on September 21, 1938, using archival newsreel and home movie footage, and contemporary interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors. 

The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.7 Billion in 2012 dollars). Downtown Providence still has buildings that are scarred by the water lines, some 13 feet above ground level.

This annual "favorite" was filmed in 1978 and won an EMMY(R) Award for WSBE. We proudly air it on Thursday, September 20 at 9 P.M. on Learn.