East Greenwich, Rhode Island

My first memory of a hurricane was Hurricane Carol in 1954 when I was 8 years old.  We lived in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.  That was the year we broke ground for a new waterfront home on Greenwich Cove.  My father decided to wait through hurricane season to see how high the water rose before picking a spot on the 1.3 acre property. (Those were the days!  He bought that waterfront 1.3 acres for only $2500 in 1952) 

I think hurricane Hazel came first, but it really wasn't all that bad.  But Carol was a real fury.  My father's sailboat was moored at the Yacht Club and was carried away by Carol.  It was found about a week later near Barrington, still in one piece.  Many trees on the property were uprooted and destroyed.  Since this was the worst storm since 1938, my father figured the waterline was about as high as it would ever get and he picked the spot and broke ground on October 1.  The finished 10 room house was a 42 step staircase from the beach and was my father's dream house.  He designed it and did much of the building himself. He built it so well that people used to say it would outlast the Pyramids.
 
I had occasion to visit East Greenwich a few years ago (I live in Georgia now) and so I went to see how the house had changed in 4+ decades.  It isn't there anymore.  Now the property is covered with pricey condos and where the house once stood, there is a swimming pool.  "Progress" can be more devastating than a hurricane.
 
Patricia Brooks
Augusta, Georgia

(Editor's note: Actually, Hurricane Edna came by in mid=September and Hazel gave us a scare in October. You can find the details on Edna here and a similar chart and data about Hazel here. After 50 years, I need to go look them up to find out which was when and where - we had several close misses in a period of about seven years.)