It's important to understand that winds around a hurricane aren't evenly distributed - the strongest winds typically occur to the right of the eye, as you look down on the storm in the direction that it's moving. So for a tropical system to produce widespread wind damage around here, the storm center needs to pass to our west.

Hurricane Hazel did just that in October 1954, bringing the fastest winds ever recorded in Wilmington and Philadelphia. And 75 years earlier, a hurricane following a similar path brought similar results on this date in 1878. Vessels of all shapes and sizes were driven ashore as southeast winds pushed water up Delaware Bay, flooding much of South Wilmington. Lewes had a seven-foot storm surge, and beaches at Rehoboth were severely eroded. In Philadelphia, the peak wind was 72 mph and damage totaled $2 million. In Cape May, hurricane-force winds produced an "extraordinary high tide" and extensive damage to resort hotels.

The headline in the newspaper the next day read "A Terrific Tornado," illustrating the confusion that still existed at that time between tornadoes and hurricanes.