The Great Storm will have widespread but varied effects once it makes landfall. These images show specific impacts of the storm in fourteen different locations across Cape Ann over a thirty-hour period on September 3 and 4, 2038.

The Annisquam River overflows its banks early in the morning on September 3, 2038. A tree falls onto the transmission lines at Riverdale Electrical Substation. Power goes out across East Gloucester and Rockport.

Salt water overtops the Goose Cove Causeway before the storm arrives. The road has been stressed for years. It buckles. Residents start to seek alternate evacuation routes through Rockport.

Residents have been evacuating for fifteen hours. When the power goes out in Gloucester, the Cut Bridge is stuck in the down position. A line of cars continues to cross in the dark.

The storm intensifies in the early afternoon. Waves rage over the astronomical high tide. The Cut bridge collapses.

Shoppers rush to grocery stores for last-minute supplies. Those who did not or could not evacuate are ordered to shelter in place.

Rising waters in the Good Harbor swamp overtop the parking lot and spill into the grocery store. The berm supporting the plaza erodes into the marsh.

Residents seek emergency supplies for the weeks ahead. Grocery stores do not have power. Their shelves are empty or damaged by water. With its supporting berm compromised, Stop and Shop starts to sink into its foundation.

The storm floods the trains taken off the tracks at Manchester-by-the-Sea Station . The bascule drawbridge in front of Manchester Harbor collapses. The berm blocks the flow of water out of the harbor to the ocean. Downtown Manchester-by-the-Sea floods.

The Coast Guard deploys to Eastern Point Lighthouse before the gravel road floods. Emergency marine rescue operations halt as the waves start to pick up.

Dog Bar is the site of the storm surge’s highest point. Waves pummel Dog Bar Lighthouse and hurl the breakwater’s massive granite blocks into the harbor.

Eastern Point remains an island due to inland flooding. The Coast Guard must wait for the waters to calm before launching vessels to assess the damage to the Inner Harbor. The superstructure of the breakwater is heavily damaged.

Already weakened by corrosion, the emergency generator at the Wastewater Treatment Plant sputters out. The pipes delivering natural gas, electricity, and freshwater to East Gloucester and Rockport are shut down.

Lines for gas create massive traffic jams. Hundreds of cars clog Route 127 in downtown Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Floodwaters spill over sandbags and flood businesses in downtown Manchester-by-the-Sea. The flooding cuts pump lines at gas stations and causes residual petroleum to leak out of underground tanks. Contaminated floodwaters pour toward the ocean and shell-fishing grounds.

Residents smell leaking petroleum throughout downtown Manchester-by-the-Sea. Workers at gas stations across Cape Ann survey the damage while residents line up with gas cans.

Business owners board up shopfronts on Bearskin Neck. Lobstermen and recreational boaters motor their vessels into the Inner Harbor behind the breakwater.

Waves surge over Bearskin Neck. Lobster boats break free from their moorings. Residents hunker down to wait out the wind and rain.

Wreckage from piers, boats, and Motif No. 1 is scattered across the Inner Harbor. Residents meet on Bearskin Neck to survey the damage before Labor Day.

Sewage leaks onto residential lawns on Cedarwood Road above the Annisquam River. Residents seek information about how to evacuate Cape Ann to find food and water.

Fernwood Lake is heavily salinated by salt spray and littered with fallen trees and branches. The West Dam breaches in the hours after the storm. It flows into the Wallace Pond watershed and overtops the Dam , sending a high-velocity flood wave across Route 133.

Tourists evacuate Long Beach. Water levels in the marsh behind the seawall start to rise rapidly.

The storm batters the cottages on Long Beach from the marsh and ocean sides. The high tide overtops the seawall and debris crashes into homes along the beach.

Residents sort through any belongings they can salvage from the cottages on Long Beach.

Rocky Neck had been cut off from the mainland overnight. As the tide lowers on Saturday morning, residents emerge to assess the damage. The wreckage of recreational and commercial boats is indistinguishable from debris from homes and businesses.

Officials are uncertain if Poplar Park had been fully evacuated before Babson Reservoir overtopped. The reservoir sent a flood wave into the housing complex. Emergency rescue crews bring flat-bottomed boats to search for anyone left behind.

The Essex Causeway floods early in the morning. This cuts off Route 133, a critical evacuation route. The Essex Board of Selectmen urges business owners along the Causeway to board up their windows and get out.

The Essex Causeway floods. The storm surge washes out the bridge and erodes the marsh.

The Causeway remains impassable. The bridge is washed out and the stormwater system under the road leaks waste. Residents seeking emergency medical attention turn around and look for alternate routes to Addison Gilbert Hospital.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, there are 1,184 residents stuck on Cape Ann and in need of emergency shelter. Access is limited to Cape Ann. Major roadways are cleared of debris within a week, but many roads remain impassable for passenger cars. 15,759 people have been directly impacted by flooding.¹ Residents without emergency generators do not have power.

In the weeks after the storm, residents take stock of the massive damage their homes and communities have sustained. Those who evacuated face delays in returning home. Roads and bridges have buckled or are washed out. Commuter rail operations are suspended indefinitely. Freshwater reservoirs are salinated and there is a critical shortage of potable water. Inland wilderness areas and roads are impassable due to downed trees. Topsoil, beaches and marshes are eroded. Trees that were not uprooted die off in the months after the storm due to salt.²³

The emergency generators at Addison Gilbert Hospital are running low on diesel. Across Cape Ann, carbon monoxide poisoning from emergency generators and respiratory issues from mold and dried sediment lead to greater loss of life.⁴ Municipal buildings stay open 24/7 and act as emergency operations centers. Fall school openings are delayed indefinitely. Power is estimated to be restored within two weeks after the storm.⁵

The financial damages from the storm are estimated at over $621 million.⁶

Neighbors are forced to leave their homes, businesses shutter their doors, and utilities remain damaged. The landscape of Cape Ann is permanently changed.

These renderings are a plausible image of the future on Cape Ann. They are not predictive or guaranteed. They tell the story of a future without measures to help protect the Cape in the event of a large coastal storm. There is time to adapt and address these vulnerabilities in the face of a changing climate.