Seth Mendell was only five when the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 swept into Buzzards Bay, but he still has vivid memories of the storm.

Mendell was playing outside at his grandmother’s house as the breeze picked up.“Branches began to break off, and I was putting them in the back of my dump truck,” said Mendell.

That was until his father brought him in out of the storm.

Mendell, a member of the Mattapoisett Historical Society, shared his memories of the hurricane on Sunday at Shipyard Park.

The park itself was the site of significant damage when the unexpected storm arrived on Sept. 21, 1938.

“By mid-afternoon, people were thinking it was a good old sou’easter,” said Mendell. But as the wind picked up, he said, “The sound was deafening.”

Riding the jet stream up the coast, the storm packed a punch. A combination of the 100 mile per hour winds and high tide resulted in a 10 to 12 foot surge of water.

“It was a monster,” said Mendell.

A popular restaurant in what is now Shipyard Park was wiped out by the waves.

“People said the backside of the restaurant exploded,” Mendell said.

At Ned’s Point, one woman watched the storm progress and recorded it in “her reflections.” What she saw was “an unbelievable sight: gray waters racing into the harbor, breaking halfway up the lighthouse,” Mendell said.

By 6:30 p.m. the tide had turned, but it left nine dead, 300 houses demolished, and no electricity. Mendell’s mother described the atmosphere as “eerily quiet.”

In the aftermath, a workforce of 75 men from Mattapoisett and 190 from New Bedford set about clearing debris. At Special Town Meeting, $48,000 was appropriated for clean up, and the town received another $50,000 from the federal government.

But what remains in Mendell’s mind is the trip through Providence as his family headed south to Florida days after the storm. The family passed several large upturned ships in Providence that had been carried across the highway by the surge.

“I can still see that just as clear as yesterday,” he said.

The Mattapoisett Historical Society is commemorating the 75th anniversary of the hurricane with a special exhibit.

On Sept. 7 there will be an open house with members of the community who remember the hurricane as well as high school students who interviewed them.

The museum will be open Saturdays in September, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The historical society will show “The 1938 Hurricane: A Wind To Shake The World” on Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. Director and producer M.L. Baron will introduce the film.

For more information, call 508-758-2844 or email mattapoisett.museum@verizon.net. The Mattapoisett Historical Society is located at 5 Church St.