Remembering Hurricane Carol:
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Did you witness Hurricane Carol in 1954? Tell me about it! And if you have a picture you're willing to share, that's all the better. I'd love to hear from you and I'll add what you have to say to our "Your View" pages. What's more, Charles Orloff is doing a commemorative book on Carol for Blue Hill Observatory and would love to hear from you as well. So if you have something to share, please:

Send me email, Greg Stone

Or send email to Charles Orloff at Blue Hill Observatory.

Or send a single email to us both at once.



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Johnston, RI

Love your web page.

I was nine years old and living in Johnston, Rhode Island on Dix Avenue. Our house was the last one on a dead end street and was at a high elevation. We could see all of Cranston from our vantage point.

Hurricane Carol rolled in and did major damage to our home. My mother and I watched as the wind picked up the roof of our two car garage. Cloths lines running from the garage to a large post my dad put up held the roof hovering three feet above the walls until the ropes finally snaped. The roof crashed down and crushed my mothers 1948 Buick Coupe. The roof put a large dent in the roof and flatened three tires. But, believe it or not no windows were broken and my mother drove the car for another two years with the "signature" of Carol embeded in the roof. We fixed the tires and off mom drove. How do you think one of "todays" cars would survive the same ordeal ?

Our house was a cape with a full dormer that had three windows. After the eye of the hurricane passed over and the wind changed direction all three windows blew in and rain poured into the second floor.

We all remember Carol and Hurricane Diane that arrived ten days later. Even at the young age of nine I acquired a very high respect for "Mother Nature". We also saw a broadcast radio antenna blow over and crash into the control room build at it's base. I don't remember what station it was. The antenna was about three miles to the east of our home and sat on a rise. My mother thought the world was coming to an end. Dad had gone to work in Providence and it took him over three hours to drive home. A normal drive of about 25 minutes. He had to dodge trees and take alternative routes when he came across a closed road. It was a bad Hurricane and I can't imagine being in one like Florida gets with 125 to 140 MPH winds.

A memory of David Yetman of Temple, New Hampshire.

Editor's note: We had a lot of hurricanes in a short period and 50 years later people understandably get them mixed up. For the record, here are the hits and near hits of the period:

  • Carol - August 31, 1954
  • Edna - September 11, 1954 (hit Cape and Islands hardest)
  • Hazel - October 15, 1954 (went over New York, but was felt in Western New England)
  • Diane - August 17-19, 1955 (more a rain event - lots of inland flooding and up to 20-inche sof rain in some locations)
  • Donna - September 12, 1960 (path similar to Carol, but came at low tide and so coastal flooding didn;t cause nearly as much damage)