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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.03.08 23:00l 64 Lines 3225 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 11
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
March 11, 1888
Great Blizzard of ’88 hits East Coast
On this day in 1888, one of the worst blizzards in American
history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and
dumping as much as 55 inches of snow in some areas. New York City
ground to a near halt in the face of massive snow drifts and
powerful winds from the storm. At the time, approximately one in
every four Americans lived in the area between Washington D.C.
and Maine, the area affected by the Great Blizzard of 1888.
On March 10, temperatures in the Northeast hovered in the
mid-50s. But on March 11, cold Arctic air from Canada collided
with Gulf air from the south and temperatures plunged. Rain
turned to snow and winds reached hurricane-strength levels. By
midnight on March 11, gusts were recorded at 85 miles per hour in
New York City. Along with heavy snow, there was a complete
whiteout in the city when the residents awoke the next morning.
Despite drifts that reached the second story of some buildings,
many city residents trudged out to New York’s elevated trains to
go to work, only to find many of them blocked by snow drifts and
unable to move. Up to 15,000 people were stranded on the elevated
trains; in many areas, enterprising people with ladders offered
to rescue the passengers for a small fee. In addition to the
trains, telegraph lines, water mains and gas lines were also
located above ground. Each was no match for the powerful
blizzard, freezing and then becoming inaccessible to repair
crews. Simply walking the streets was perilous. In fact, only 30
people out of 1,000 were able to make it to the New York Stock
Exchange for work; Wall Street was forced to close for three
straight days. There were also several instances of people
collapsing in snow drifts and dying, including Senator Roscoe
Conkling, New York’s Republican Party leader.
Many New Yorkers camped out in hotel lobbies waiting for the
worst of the blizzard to pass. Mark Twain was in New York at the
time and was stranded at his hotel for several days. P.T. Barnum
entertained some of the stranded at Madison Square Garden. The
East River, running between Manhattan and Queens, froze over, an
extremely rare occurrence. This inspired some brave souls to
cross the river on foot, which proved a terrible mistake when the
tides changed and broke up the ice, stranding the adventurers on
ice floes. Overall, about 200 people were killed by the blizzard
in New York City alone.
But New York was not the only area to suffer. Along the Atlantic
coast, hundreds of boats were sunk in the high winds and heavy
waves. The snowfall totals north of New York City were historic:
Keene, New Hampshire, received 36 inches; New Haven, Connecticut,
got 45 inches; and Troy, New York, was hit by 55 inches of snow
over 3 days. In addition, thousands of wild and farm animals
froze to death in the blizzard.
In the wake of the storm, officials realized the dangers of
above-ground telegraph, water and gas lines and moved them below
ground. In New York City, a similar determination was made about
the trains, and within 10 years, construction began on an
underground subway system that is still in use today.
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