Summary

SHOCK TROOPS OF DISASTER - STORY OF THE NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE

Source Archive Films by Getty Images
Title: SHOCK TROOPS OF DISASTER - STORY OF THE NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE
File Number: DN-249 1 inch
Color: B W
Type: Documentary
Year: 01/01/1938
Subjects: Aerials; Hurricane - 1938 - Montage; Winds - Waves; Destruction - Debris - Trees; Houses - Destroyed; Liner - Beached; Yacht - Marooned; Train - Derailed; Flooding - Rivers; Autos - Submerged; Power Lines - Downed; Trees; Sandbags - Dikes - Flooding; Rescuers; Government - Federal - Program - Policy;
Description: 00:00:18:00 B W 1938 (Sync Sound) Opens with rough sea, newspaper headlines about approaching storm Montage of storm waves, telegraph, CU hand tapping message, tickertape from machine, hurricane headlines, superimposed over map Excellent, storm in progress, New England and Long Island, houses swept away, floods, cars covered by water, high winds blowing AVs of damage to Long Island coast and destroyed bridges Danger, man swims to home, Coast Guard stops him Montage of destroyed homes on the island, damaged windmill, marooned and smashed yachts, derailed train, twisted radio tower, good. 00:02:43:00 B W 1938 New London, AV of fire along docks Fallen, uprooted trees, trunk lying across car Montage of New England property damage WPA bath house at Scarborough beach, Rhode Island Ocean liner washed ashore, good Montage of destruction, church, bathtub in debris, power lines, wires down Montage of rivers flooding, bridges damaged, excellent. 00:04:30:00 B W 1938 AV of Hartford, CT, floods VO says bodies are buried in car under water POV from boat, man stands on roof with dogs, climbs into rescue boat VS of rescues, Coast Guard in action Building dikes with sandbags, VO "Armies of workers from private relief agencies, from nearby WPA and NYA projects, from CCC camps, as well as men recruited from every branch of the military and naval services, erected sandbag barriers to halt the rising waters." Excellent footage, sandbagging town. 00:05:48:00 B W 1938 Previous WPA projects helped contain rivers, VS Animated map, WPA clean-up locations Workers get off trains, truck convoy Sailors and soldiers help with salvage work in town CU WPA armbands on workers looking for trapped people. 00:07:00:00 B W 1938 Harry Hopkins arrives on twin-engine plane, tours area, Governor's meeting WPA women and Red Cross workers with homeless families in MA, children eating, mother combs child's hair, good Womem working in sewing room, food distribution, people picking up bags of food and clothes. 00:08:27:00 B W 1938 Clean-up montage Men shovel sand and mud cleared from road and highways into truck Truck loaded with food supplies and water, feeding workers, men line up, CU bread and coffee poured into cup Cranes & tractors move portions of houses, sawing fallen trees and removing, good LA men working along river bank, dozers cleaning out roadbeds of streams, Mowhawk Trail, MA Filling in holes, landfill Sign, "USA Work Program WPA" VS work being done, urban and rural, roads and bridges, good Superimposed negative of workers and disasters, as VO waxes lyrical about the heroic WPA army of workers recruited from ranks of unemployed, government propaganda.
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