The Great September Gale of 1815 (the word "hurricane" was not yet current in American English at the time) is one of five "major hurricanes" (Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) to strike New England since 1635. At the time it struck, the Great September Gale was the first hurricane to strike New England in 180 years. After striking on Long Island, the hurricane caused major damages in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Rhode Island suffered the worst damage, as the storm surge flooded towns along Narragansett Bay up to and including Providence.