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Thousands of cars, many carrying perishables and the vital necessities of life, were completely stopped all over the New Haven system. 75 miles of track was lifted from the roadbed, twisted, washed out, undermined or covered with thousands of tons of sand, stone and other debris. 31 bridges and 200 culverts were washed out, moved from their abutments or completely demolished . . . necessitating repairs or rebuilding. Thousands of trees were blown down across tracks and communication lines . . . Hundreds of telephone poles . . . over 5,000,000 feet of telephone and signal wires were down in a jumbled mass of wreckage. Many freight sheds and stations were unroofed, flooded, or demolished by the force of hurricane, tidal wave and flood.

Over 5,000 men, including engineers, linemen, trackmen, pile drivers, divers, skilled and unskilled laborers, toiled night and day in 3 shifts to restore in record time the vital life-line between New England and points south and west. Over 5,000 carloads of gravel, stone and rip-rap were required to fill the yawning cavities left by tidal wave and flood. In 2 days partial passenger service had been restored between Boston and New York, with bus detour around flood-devastated areas. In 6 days through freight service had been restored between New York and important New England points. In 13 days through rail passenger service was restored on the Shore Line between New York and Boston.