The Great September Gale of 1815 (the word "hurricane" was not yet current in American English) is one of five "major hurricanes" (Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale) to strike New England since 1635. At the time it struck, the Great September Gale was the first hurricane to strike New England in 180 years. After striking on Long Island, the hurricane caused major damage in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Rhode Island suffered the worst damage, as the storm surge flooded towns along Narragansett Bay up to and including Providence. Origin The hurricane first struck the Turks Islands near the Bahamas on September 20, with a strength estimated to have been equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. Impact New York The storm struck Long Island on September 23, 1815, probably coming ashore near Center Moriches (Ludlum) around 7:00 A.M. On the south shore of Long Island it broke through the barrier beach and created the inlet that still isolates Long Beach, which had previously been an eastward extension of The Rockaways. Connecticut Around 9:00 A.M. the storm came ashore at Saybrook, Connecticut with the force of what would now be considered a Category 3 hurricane. Waves of up to six feet were reported in New London. Rhode Island The "Great Storm" (or "Great Gale"), as it was known there, hit Providence, Rhode Island on the morning of September 23. From about 10:00 A.M. to noon, the storm delivered a storm surge that funneled up Narragansett Bay where it destroyed some 500 houses and 35 ships. Dozens of ships were deposited on the streets of Providence. The bowsprit of the ship "Ganges" was smashed into the third story of the Washington Insurance Company building. The Second Baptist Meeting House was destroyed. Most of the buildings on the east side from south of the Market House to India Point were destroyed. At India Point, houses and wharves were destroyed. Both the Washington Bridge and the Central (Red) Bridge were uprooted from their piers and destroyed. The rain appears to have been saturated with salt. The leaves on trees which were not blown away were covered with a white salt coating that resembled a light frost. Even houses turned white. A line on the Old Market Building marks the storm surge that was unsurpassed in the city until the 1938 New England hurricane, which brought a storm surge. There is