Annual Broadcast of Wake of '38 This Weekend

Providence City Hall and The Biltmore Hotel in 1938

While we enjoy the beautiful weather forecast for this final weekend of summer, it is hurricane season. This weekend, we mark the anniversary of one of the bad ones. In 1938, years before weather services began naming hurricanes, one fast-moving storm careened up the east coast with devastating consequences. It's known plainly and simply as the Hurricane of '38, but its effects were anything but plain or simple - and its scars are still visible on buildings in downtown Providence.

In 1973, WSBE (then "Channel 36" now "Rhode Island PBS") made a commemorative documentary about the storm, using archival footage and interviews with survivors. The dramatic story won an Emmy Award for WSBE.

Rhode Island PBS proudly presents our award-winning documentary, Wake of '38 on Saturday, September 19 at noon, as well as Sunday, September 20, 2014 at 6 p.m. and Saturday September 26 at 11 p.m., as part of our ongoing series Rhode Island Stories, a collection of local documentaries about the people, places and events with a strong local connection on WSBE Rhode Island PBS. The film also airs on WSBE Learn on Tuesday, September 22 at 8:00 p.m.

An annual "fan favorite" among our viewers, the film marks 77 years since the devastating hurricane and 37 years since the WSBE Rhode Island PBS production premiered.

Click here for our comprehensive 75th anniversary blog post, along with several remarkable photos.
[direct link is http://rhodeislandpbs.blogspot.com/2013/09/emmy-award-winner-wake-of-38-marks.html]