IMPACT OF THE 1954 & 1955 NORTHEAST HURRICANES ON URBANIZED WATERSHEDS

Between August, 1954 and August, 1955, the Northeast US was struck by four serious hurricane events. The first two storms, Hurricane Carol and Hurricane Edna, occurred little more than a week apart and seriously impacted coastal cities. 1954 Northeast hurricanes were characteristically storm surge events, while the storms of 1955, Hurricane Connie and Diane, were rain events that saturated soils, boosted discharge in watersheds and led to devastating flooding in Central Massachusetts, Eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Floods proved especially damaging to urbanized watersheds, along the Blackstone, Housatonic, Naugatuck, Connecticut, Quinebaug and Delaware rivers. Connecticut witnessed the most extreme conditions during Hurricane Diane, where 428.24 mm of rain fell in Torrington. Water levels in the Connecticut River peaked in Hartford at 9.3 m, and many gauging stations throughout the state recorded their highest levels to date.

As a result of inland flooding along river systems, the Army Corps of Engineers launched a program to build flood control dams and manage flood plains as catchments. This system created in the 1960s and 1970s has proven largely effective at preventing flooding from seriously affecting urbanized watersheds.