I would guess 38 was a lopsided cane but it did have an intact eye iirc, and the heaviest rain as you just posted was near and even right of track. Maybe some was PRE but 38 was nothing like Gloria or Bob with a nearly dry east of track.
Yeah, that NE curve as it passed BID saved I95. Will said 100+ miles but even 50 miles would have rocked around 10 million more people in the Boston and PVD metros