by Shannon Butler
Have we had enough snow yet? It’s only February, after all, but it does feel as if it wants to snow just a little bit everyday. We do have plenty of time left in our winter season for a storm to wreak havoc across our valley. Hopefully, it won’t be like the deadly blizzard of 1888. When it comes to which snowstorm is the deadliest on record, most people agree that it’s the famous “Great White Hurricane of ’88.” In fact, if you Google the phrase “worst snowstorms in history,” this one is on every list! Poughkeepsie certainly felt the power of this storm, so much so that it would be talked about for generations to come. (Hey, we’re talking about it right now!)
The Blizzard of 1888 had everything that you could possibly hate about a snowstorm. Bone-chilling temperatures, hurricane-force winds, several inches of snow dropping per hour, and it raged on for about a day and a half. To make matters worse, there were no warning systems to speak of in 1888 (no radar or AccuWeather maps). Just a few days before the storm began, it had been mild and rainy. For mid-March, that would lead one to believe that Spring was on the way. However, the temperatures suddenly took a dive, the winds picked up, and on Sunday night, the 11th of March 1888, the snow began to fall… and it kept falling.
This onslaught of nasty weather caught people off guard, trapping travelers on trains and in carriages. By Monday, everything was at a complete standstill. The mail was not being delivered and the trains were not leaving Grand Central. Doctors who traveled to their patients’ houses by horse and carriage were abandoning their horses and slogging through the snow on foot. Over 40 inches of snow fell in some places, and with the wind blowing the snow around, some houses were completely buried. Several families had to wait it out until they could shovel their way out of their homes, or be shoveled out by a team of men who made their way through the city rescuing anyone they could. This group of men went on to form an organization called “The Blizzard Men of 1888,” and they held dinners annually for years in remembrance of the storm.
Up and down Main Street there were a series of tunnels dug in the snow just so people could make their way down the sidewalks. Some of the tunnels were quite elaborate, as you can see from the pictures on the right. On top of one tunnel, a pair of boots appeared with a sign that read, “Help! Help! Please Save Me!” On another tunnel was a sign that read, “Keep off the grass.” The newspaper jokingly proclaimed, “It is safe to say we all know now what a blizzard is.” For many, this storm was no laughing matter, as it is estimated that it hit about 11 Northeastern states and killed over 400 people, 200 of whom were located in New York City. Property damage was said to be around $20 million (in today’s money, that’s just over $500 million). For many years, when another blizzard would pop up, the folks who were still alive who had witnessed the blizzard would simply say, “it’s not as bad as ’88.”
References:
Poughkeepsie Eagle News – 12, 14, March 1888
March 1933, March 1948, March 1988
Images:
01 – Image of the snow banks on Main St. after the blizzard of ‘88, by Vail Brothers (LH Collections)
02 – Gentlemen posing outside Hayt & Lindley on Main St. after the storm (LH Collections)
03 – “The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company,” snow tunnel built after the storm. (LH Collections)
04 – Residence of R. Wilkinson, 297 Mill Street with unidentified shoveler pictured in foreground (LH Collections)
05 – Shovelers lined up on Main Street, looking west from Little Smith St. (LH Collections)
