In 1938, the Rhode Island beachfront stood exposed. Houses were built on shifting sand, too close to the sea. Bridges were too flimsy, roads too low. When the September hurricane struck, one resident said, "It was your worst nightmare coming true."

In the storm's aftermath, city streets became surreal junkyards full of debris, travelled by looters in rowboats. Entire beach communities disappeared. Thousands of livestock were killed. New England lost 275 million trees, including a third of Vermont's sugar maples. And hundreds of people died.

Screen these home videos shot during and after several historic New England storms.