1933 August storm left lasting mark on Virginia's barrier islands and Ocean City

 (Shore Daily News)

The hurricane on 1933 hit here on August 23 and 24, 1933.  The storm was considered a legendary storm and was only a category one.  But it lingered near the coast of Virginia and before it was over, settlements on Assateague and the town of Broadwater on Hog Island were gone forever.

August 23-24,1933 – The Hurricane of 1933 was a transformational storm on the Eastern Shore.  The storm dumped estimates of 20 to 30 inches of rain ahead of landfall. The '33 storm ended the Golden Age of Virginia’s Barrier Islands.   Prior to the storm, there were houses on Assateague, Hog, Cobb and other barrier islands.   The storm hit on August 23,1933 and continued for two days. By the time it moved off, the town of Broadwater on Hog Island was practically destroyed, as were houses on Assateague. The resort on Cobb Island was totally destroyed. Wachapreague, Chincoteague and Cape Charles had tides ranging from 5 ft. at Chincoteague to 7 ft. at Cape Charles and 10 ft at Wachapreague.  Two deaths were reported, one of which was a baby that was ripped from its mother’s arms by the surging water.

After the storm, houses that were destroyed on Assateague were not rebuilt. At Broadwater on Hog Island owners of surviving homes moved them and the bodies of loved ones buried in the cemetery to Willis Wharf.  Today the community is known as “Little Hog Island” in Willis Wharf.

The Hurricane of 1933 also changed the course of Ocean City.  At the time of the storm Ocean City extended over three blocks south of the inlet.  There was no inlet, but the heavy rains raised the level of Assateague Bay and the water forced what is now Ocean City Inlet to form. Ocean City residents had been long asking for the state to dig an inlet so that boats could have access to the town. Mother Nature did that job at no cost to tax payers.