Tuesday, August 30, 2011

New England Floods, Deju Vu All Over Again

For those of us who have graced this earth for long enough, lots of things ring our bell making echoes of the past.  That's true for the floods in Vermont and upstate New York, reminding me (after a little googling) of the hurricanes which hit Connecticut twice in 1955, followed by a heavy storm.  From a site on the subject:
On March 19, 1956, Governor Ribicoff made the following statement before the United States Senate Appropriations Committee listing "what the 1955 floods cost Connecticut:"
  • "91 persons dead and 12 others missing and presumed dead.
  • 86,000 persons unemployed.
  • More than 1,100 families left homeless.
  • Another 2,300 families were at least temporarily without shelter.
  • Nearly 20,000 families suffered flood damage.
  • Sixty-seven of our 169 towns were affected by the floods.
  • The damage to individual property, to business, to industry, and to State and municipal facilities has been estimated at almost half a billion dollars."3

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