The Hurricane that took Hepburn's Family Home
The first act of Tea at Five takes place just as what would come to be known as The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was making landfall, first on Long Island, then again on Connecticut, where the Hepburn family summer home was located. According to her memoirs, Hepburn’s family did not believe that their home would be affected by the storm and stayed on Fenwick. Hepburn, her mother, the cook (Fanny), a houseguest and her brother Dick had to jump out of a window of the quickly dissipating house and run to safety. The next day, Howard Hughes had fresh water flown to them by private plane. The family stayed in Fenwick long enough to recover all of the pieces of Mrs. Hepburn’s prized silver tea service. The house was rebuilt in 1939.
The most destructive storm to hit New England in the 20th Century, the category three hurricane was responsible for over 700 deaths, as many injuries, and the loss of roughly 9,000 buildings across Long Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. At its worst, winds exceeded 120 mph. Modern equivalent of monetary damages is estimated at $18 billion according to history.com
For detailed meteorological information, visit: The National Weather Service’s Site Dedicated to the Event and this article from Smithsonian!
The most destructive storm to hit New England in the 20th Century, the category three hurricane was responsible for over 700 deaths, as many injuries, and the loss of roughly 9,000 buildings across Long Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. At its worst, winds exceeded 120 mph. Modern equivalent of monetary damages is estimated at $18 billion according to history.com
For detailed meteorological information, visit: The National Weather Service’s Site Dedicated to the Event and this article from Smithsonian!