Wednesday, December 10, 2025

In Jamestown RI, Sept '38, seven children were killed when their school bus was washed into the cove on Beavertail rd.





The Great Hurricane of 1938 slammed into Jamestown early that afternoon and forever changed the lives of those who lived through it. It remains one of the worst disasters in North

In a matter of hours, lives were lost, thousands of people were injured, and property damage reached catastrophic levels. Ferocious winds carried away steeples and rooftops. Entire buildings were demolished, swept away by the wind and the waves. Ferryboats ran aground and small vessels either sank or were smashed to pieces. 

The unthinkable occurred when bus driver Norman Caswell attempted to bring a busload of children home through flooded Mackerel Cove. Halfway through the cove, the bus stalled. Believing it would be safer to evacuate the bus, the children were shepherded out into the rising water where they attempted to maintain a human chain and reach safety. Overcome by the fierce surf, seven children lost their lives, four of them from one family alone.

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