Counting Down Connecticut's Top 10 Storms Part V
Which 10 storms are the worst CT residents have endured over the last 100 years? Share your stories here...
By RYAN HANRAHAN
Updated 6:45 PM EST, Fri, May 8, 2009
Storm #2 - Flood of 55 - August 19th, 1955
Here are the facts:
- 2 hurricanes (Connie and Diane) brushed CT and dumped 10-25 inches of rain across the state.
- The Quinebaug, Housatonic, Pomeraug, Naugatuck, and Farmington rivers recorded their highest stage ever (the '55 flood remains to this day the flood of record).
- 87 CT residents died in the flood
- $350 million in damage
Hurricane Connie made landfall on August 12th near the North Carolina Outer Banks. The storm's winds stayed southwest of Connecticut but the rains did not. Western Connecticut picked up between 5" and 10" of rain between August 11th and 14th. The soil was completely saturated following Connie's brush by Connecticut.
Only 5 days later, Hurricane Diane made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina as a category 1 hurricane. The storm moved north through the Mid Atlantic and then curved out to sea south of southern New England on August 19th. Diane produced a tremendous band of record breaking rainfall across parts of Connecticut. In 24 hours, 18 inches of rain fell in portions of northwestern Connecticut. The east-west oriented band of heaviest rainfall of between 8" and 18" straddled the Connecticut/Massachusetts border. This rain fell on top of saturated soil and already swollen rivers and lead to one of Connecticut's greatest natural disasters.
The heaviest rain primarily fell in the headwaters of rivers such as the Quinebaug, Farmington, Naugatuck, and Housatonic. These rivers swelled to record levels that haven't been rivaled - before or since.
The Farmington River at Unionville reached 32.90 feet on August 19th, 1955 (flood stage is 12 feet). The Second highest crest on the Farmington occurred after the April 2007 nor'easter and is only 16.81 feet!
The Quinebaug River in Putnam reached 26.5 feet on August 19th, 1955 (flood stage is 10 feet). The previous record was 19.5 ft during the Hurricane of '38.
The Housatonic River at Gaylordsville reached 18.58 feet on August 19th, 1955 (flood stage is 8 feet). The second highest crest is 15.22 feet during a flood in 1984.
The Naugatuck River at Beacon Falls reached 25.70 feet on August 19th, 1955 (flood stage is 12 feet) while the next highest crest of 14.10 feet occurred during the March of 1936 flood.
The flooding was beyond imagination in some valley towns. An entire section of Main street in Winsted was wiped out as the Mad River raged out of its banks. Waterbury saw the greatest loss of life where several streets along the Naugatuck River were completely destroyed. In Farmington, rows of houses in Unionville were claimed by the river. Downtown Naugatuck and Ansonia were flooded by incredible torrents of water. In eastern Connecticut, Putnam was hit just as hard by the floods with the Quinebaug river flooding factories and downtown stores.
For more information:
Connecticut State Library Pictures
Waterbury Flooding stories and timeline
National Weather Service flood page
Storm #1 - Hurricane of 1938 - September 21st, 1938
Here are the facts:
- Category 3 hurricane at landfall
- Center of the storm's eye crossed over Milford and New Haven
- Maximum sustained winds over 115 m.p.h. with higher gusts
- 28.00" barometric pressure recorded in Middletown (check out where that is on your home barometer!)
- Storm came without warning and was moving north at 60 m.p.h.
- Record storm surge on Long Island Sound
It was forecasted to move safely out to sea but It didn't. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was moving due north when it moved just east of the North Carolina Outer Banks. In the days before satellites and radars, weather information was tough to come by. The storm continued moving north at an incredible speed of over 60 m.p.h. before it slammed into Long Island at about 3:30 in the afternoon on September 21st, 1938.
The storm is officially ranked as a category 3 hurricane in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The storm's winds during the New York landfall are listed at 120 m.ph. with a pressure of 940 mb while the official reanalysis for the Connecticut landfall has winds of 115 m.p.h. and a pressure of 946 mb.
A record storm surge in excess of 10 feet destroyed beach cottages along the shoreline, particularly east of New Haven where the damage was more pronounced. Katherine Hepburn narrowly escaped death after the water rose around her Fenwick home. In New London flooding lead to an electrical fire that destroyed a whole downtown block.
The rains associated with the '38 hurricane lead to record flooding in portions of Connecticut following days and days of rain. 10-17 inches of rain fell during and in advance of the hurricane which pushed the Connecticut River to its second highest stage ever (in fact just 2 years after the 1936 flood on the river).
The tree damage from the wind was incredible. Millions of trees in the state were destroyed. Town greens across New England never would look the same after the hurricane essentially destroyed them. Many church steeples toppled during the storm, unable to withstand the storm's fury. Connecticut residents say that was the year without a fall. The trees were stripped bare by the winds with no leaves left to change colors.
Adjusted for inflation, the 1938 hurricane remains one of the more costly hurricanes to ever hit the United States. 90 Connecticut residents died in the storm which did 100 million in damage (in 1938 dollars).
More Information:
Webex presentation of the hurricane's official reanalysis
1939 Monthly Weather Review summary of the storm
National Weather Service storm summary
Connecticut State Library photo collection
First Published: May 7, 2009 8:20 AM EST
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