September 24, 1938. Taken 3 days after the Great New England Hurricane, this image shows the new Shinnecock Inlet and many overwash fans along the adjacent shore. These fans and inlets attest to the tremendous power of this storm, the most devastating hurricane on record to strike the Northeast coast of the United States. All the inlets along this stretch of the coast trended left of shore-perpendicular. The overwash fans demonstrate a mechanism by which sand is carried from the open coast into the back bays. This image is part of a mosaic prepared by the Beach Erosion Board, a series of 157 photographs covering Fire Island Inlet to Southampton. The photographs were probably taken by the U.S. Army Air Corps, Mitchell Field, Long Island.

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