As the storm moved west-northwest, it steadily intensified. Lucky immediately distrusts Kirby, but everybody puts it down as jealousy and they accept Kirby. The hurricane struck several states from North Carolina to New York and central New England.The storm killed 300-400 people. With Russell Hayden, Dub Taylor, Alma Carroll, Bob Wills. The 1944 season was an active season: the accumulated cyclone energy index was 104, and the season featured eight hurricanes, of which three were major storms. Great Atlantic Hurricane 1944 This large and powerful hurricane was first detected northeast of the Leeward Islands on September 9. The 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane was a severe tropical cyclone. Jersey Shore battered by Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. The 1944 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 16, 1944, and lasted until October 31, 1944. Directed by William Berke. The Great Atlantic Hurricane was an intense tropical cyclone that impacted the entire U.S. Atlantic seaboard in September 1944.. Reconnaissance aircraft first discovered the fully developed hurricane on September 9, 1944, northeast of Puerto Rico. Before superstorm Sandy, there was "The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944." It moved west-northwestward through the 12th, then turned northward on a track that brought the center near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on the 14th. State Ranger Lucky Saunders (Russell Hayden) meets Steve Kirby (Tristram Coffin), a newcomer running for sheriff, at a birthday party for Gayle Foster (Alma Carroll). The entire U.S. Atlantic seaboard was affected in September 1944. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.. It caused $100 million in damage.