Amid the chaos of a severe nor’easter, powerful waves revealed a shipwreck dating back to the 19th century, which had been buried under the sands of Nantucket. The storm unleashed heavy rainfall, strong winds, and coastal flooding along the East Coast.
On Saturday, a pile of waterlogged wood, held together by corroded nails and seaweed, was spotted along the south shore of Nantucket Island. This discovery was captured in a video shared by Nantucket Current.
The remnants are thought to be from the Warren Sawyer, a schooner that had been en route to New Orleans but ran aground at Miacomet Beach in 1884.
This vessel was laden with cotton and scrap iron when it was caught in gale-force winds, causing it to stray off course before crashing onto the island around 11 p.m. on December 22, 1884, as reported.
Interestingly, parts of the shipwreck had been found in that same region back in December 2022.
After months of investigation, researchers concluded that the wooden pieces likely belonged to the Warren Sawyer. Massachusetts Archaeologist David Robinson noted, “As is often the case with historical archaeological studies, piecing together the available literature and evidence felt like unraveling a thread on a sweater. The more I explored, the more I uncovered.”
Initial findings could not confirm the identity of the ship due to a mismatch between the fastening materials uncovered and the existing records related to the Warren Sawyer.
Beyond just the shipwreck, the recent storm caused significant erosion to the Nantucket beaches, marking its impact on the region.
This unusual September nor’easter wreaked havoc across a wide area of the eastern seaboard, affecting places from Massachusetts down to Long Island, New York City, New Jersey, and Delaware.
In its wake, hundreds of thousands were left without electricity across multiple states.
As of 2 a.m. Sunday, more than 27,600 customers in New York were experiencing power outages, along with another 26,000 in Connecticut, and around 11,500 in Massachusetts.
Tragically, the storm also led to loss of life when a 56-year-old New York City Housing Authority worker named Leighton Brown was killed by a falling tree while working at Cypress Hills Houses in Brooklyn. He was quickly taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after.
Additionally, New York State Police are searching for a missing swimmer who vanished in the waters off Long Island’s Robert Moses State Park. Reports indicated that around 2:30 p.m. on September 26, 2026, a white male wearing dark shorts was last seen in the ocean before disappearing from sight.
