Nor'easter History

Blizzard of 1996

This Jan. 6-8 storm hit the residents of the heavily populated North-east Corridor (Washington, DC to Boston). 20 to 30 inch snowfalls whipped up into huge snowdrifts by the cold winds caused widespread power outages. This storm caused 154 deaths and $ 1 billion damages.

Damages on Fire Island were limited to a few houses ( Sorry, my records are not complete here)

The Super Storm of March 13, 1993

Weather forecasters called this one: The storm of the Century. Half of the U.S. population (26 States) was affected. In the U.S. 270 people were killed. Over 160 people were rescued by the Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. In Canadian Waters a 600 ft cargo ship went down. Property damage amounted to $ 2 billion. Every highway and airport was closed north of Atlanta. Florida was hit by a 12-ft storm surge and on it's path north-east it damaged uncounted beaches, homes and marinas. Right after the storm it turned exceptionally warm. The snow melted rapidly and the floodwaters damaged many more properties.

Damage on Fire Island was extensive. The New York Times in it's December 15 edition reported: 12,000 Homes Said to Sustain Storm Damages and showed damaged houses on Fire Island. The storms were so powerful, they scoured from 70 to 100 ft of beach away, almost the entire length of the island. Dunes were reduced to 0 to 8ft in most places from their previous 15 to 25 feet.
These two winter storms took the following toll:

	Out to Sea	Damaged	Uninhabitable
Kismet	3	2	2
Saltaire	2	16	0
Fair Harbor	8	8	13
Dunewood	3	7	0
Lonelyville	0	2	0

The Great Nor'easter of December 11, 1992

The National Weather Service called this storm "one of the epic storms of all time". Insured losses mounted to $ 850 million Total damages around $ 2 billion) and nine deaths. High storm surges caused many mandatory evacuations in coastal areas. The FDR was inundated and rescue divers had to rescue trapped motorists. The Red Cross sheltered 300,000 people. This was the storm that wiped out the stretch of homes in Westhampton and caused breaches into Moriches Bay.

On Fire Island: For four days the beach was pummeled by high waves, which were made more damaging due to the high tides.

Joseph Fayden (homeowner) writes: The 92 storm arrived on a full moon and the tide was about 7 feet above norm. It also lasted 3 full flood tides.

The Halloween Storm of 1991

This was a meteorological abnormality in that this nor'easter met up with the remnants of a hurricane and the storm retrograded, or began to move backward to the south and west. This storm then meandered in circle several hundred miles offshore. It continued to hurl huge waves at the shores from Puerto Rico to Maine. Winds topped 100 miles over the Ocean. Nearly 750,000 sq. miles of ocean experienced gale force winds or more. Average wave height as registered by buoys was 50ft. with rogue waves up to 100 feet. Insured damage was listed at $ 168 million. President George Bush's summer home in Kennebunkport was damaged too.

On Fire Island: I have no information on Fire Island currently. But it wasn't pretty!

The February 1978 Nor'easter

Joseph Fayden (homeowner) writes: The 2 worst storms I ever saw was the Feb 1978 nor'easter and the December 11, 1992 nor'easter.
One had rain the other had snow.

The Ash Wednesday Storm of March 7, 1962

This is another major storm of recent memory. It caused $300,000 in damages and spread over the entire East Coast.

On Fire Island: About 100 homes were lost.

Blizzard of 1888

This Nor'easter killed 400 people, 200 in New York City alone, Snowfall averaged 40-50 inches and reached from Chesapeake Bay to the North Atlantic. 200 boats were grounded or destroyed and 100 sailors died.