The 80th anniversary of the Long Island Express and how forecasting hurricanes and preparing for dangerous storms has evolved in the decades since was the subject of the October 3 symposium Long Island Hurricanes on the 80th Anniversary of the 1938 Storm: Past, Present, and Future covered by Newsday.
Symposium director Dr. Jase Bernhardt told Newsday that he hoped the event would “raise awareness of the continuing risk we face on Long Island every hurricane season.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service and assistant administrator for weather services for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said the Long Island Express “sets the standard for ultimate destruction, societal impact, family lore,” for Long Island and, later, New England. The hurricane, which hit Long Island without warning, prompted an overhaul to weather forecasting.
