Hurricane of 1938

A first hand account of the 1938 Hurricane in Colrain  CHS #2443

 Martha Donelson Katz recently donated a letter written by her mother, Winnifred Lincoln ,  vividly describing her harrowing experience during the Hurricane of 1938. She lived in a house on River Road in Colrain and was all alone at the time of the storm.


                                                                             Winnifred E. Lincoln

       "This is incredible & vivid writing and should be read, appreciated and SAVED"

 
 
"Colrain not only suffered, but it is practically ruined."


                                                                         Foster Streeters

       "I was racing thro' the house, holding my flashlight all       

        the  time, and just as I came  from the kitchen to the dining

        room the last time I saw water on the floor, and instantly 

heard it begin to thunder into the cellar,- just like cannonading!!"

"We could see the trees snapping and breaking across the valley, the sound of the roaring river was deafening! At 5:15 all the lights in town went out...   Something told me to pick up everything I could .... picked up all scatter rugs, cushions, pillows, afghans, etc and threw them up the attic stairs..."

Rescue was on the way.........


 "I started to find my way thro' the water to the attic stairs, and as I waded up the first two stairs I heard someone call my name. And, to my amazement, three men were in the attic, having entered from over the woodshed roof, smashed a window, and come to take me out of the house."

===========  CHS ITEM #2443 =======SEH March 2024===========

REVISION 3-12-24
The entire letter is available typed up transcribed on the CHS blog maintained by Don Purington.
The CHS blog also has more info on Winnifred, including the house she was living in when the waters rose...
http://colrainhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2023/04/winnifred-lincolns-1938-hurricane-and.html




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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