Hurricane Carol Hits Rhode Island (1954) | Part 1
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- Опубликовано: 22 янв 2025
- Scenes from around Rhode Island of Hurricane Carol and its aftermath in 1954. One of the most destructive storms in state history, the water rose 14.4 feet above mean sea level and reached as high as 12 feet in parts of Downtown Providence resulting in over $41 million in damage. Record wind gusts of 135 mph were recorded on Block Island. As a result, plans were put into place to build a hurricane barrier for the city of Providence, and by 1966 the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier was completed.
Call No: 1969.81.20916b
Original Title: Hurricane Carol
Date: Week of 1954-08-31
Collection: WJAR-TV
Format: 16mm, b&w, silent
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I recall Carol. I lived on Cottage St in Pawtucket at the time. My parents rented a third floor apartment. I remember vividly sheets of plywood from the nearby lumber yard flying by our kitchen window and my Mom scolding me and my brother to stay away from the window. By the time my Dad got home the roof had failed and water was streaming into our house from the light fixtures. Pretty scary.
I remember Carol. We lived on the 3rd floor in a house on Greenwich St in Providence. I looked out the window facing Bucklin St and saw my friend come out of his house and try to walk around his house. The wind was so severe, he had to hold on to the fence as he walked so that he would not blow away. I was 7 and he was 8. We both weighed about 80 pounds soaking wet.
Considering that there were warnings before Hurricane Carol hit, I'm surprised that so many people (and cars) were in downtown Providence when the flooding happened. In the hurricane of September 1938 it had been even worse, but there was no warning beforehand that time. Yet this time it looks like nobody had gotten out of the way.
My then boyfriend and later husband, Jack Balshaw, served in RI National Guard so was on duty for that storm but never told me much about it…at 18 yrs old he came home and later joined the Army in order to qualify for the GI Bill for a college education. Because of that, he spent his life in service to both our country and town…saying it was pay back for our prosperous happy life.
I was a baby but my mom said there were warnings of a 'storm' but she never realized it was a hurricane. We were supposed to move to a new house. Mid morning the movers called and said they weren't coming. Maybe the word got out late or wasn't specific enough.
Oh my gosh I do remember this; I was frightened, although I wasn't in Downtown Providence at that time.
At 3:26 you can see the Fountain Street side of the Projo building & the two plaques flanking the front door, the 1938 Hurricane High Water Marker is visible just below the left plaque.
Wow! Good eyes
This film was obviously shot when the storm's effects were diminishing and the water was receding. I wonder how high the water got here, at its deepest, in this storm? Compared to 1938, that is.
@@hebneh I may be wrong. there looks like there is evidence of the water line, @8:21 freeze the frame at 8:22
@@midas617 You can't tell how high the water got in relation to the 1938 hurricane level that's visible at 3:26, but you're right that various water lines are visible in other shots in this film. I looked more carefully and saw more than one.
Remember it well. My mother remembered, 1938 also.
Wow!
Scary.
Downtown providence Rhode island wow