Date: Fri 30-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

history-summer-storms

Full Text:

History Shows The Other Side Of Summer's Soft Breezes

(with photos)

Our collective sighs of relief that winter is over can be short lived when we

remember storms that made summers in the past as worrisome as any snow or ice

storms.

Hurricanes, cyclones, floods and even tornadoes have touched western

Connecticut in the past and will, no doubt, do so again.

There have been several hurricanes through the years that have caused either

minor or serious damage to property in Newtown.

Considerable damage was done by an unnamed hurricane on September 14, 1944.

Trees, orchards and a corn crop suffered from damage from the wind. The ground

was covered with apples and peaches, and there was serious damage to Henry

Taylor's orchards on Mt Pleasant, according to The Newtown Bee dated September

22.

Though orchards were badly hit, the greatest loss was expected to be sileage

corn, which was so beaten down and shredded that it would be difficult to cut.

However, the storm did not cause as much damage as had been feared, nor was it

as severe as experienced by other towns.

Telephone and electric lines were down in town, with electric service

interrupted for several days in some sections.

The Bee wrote: "In some cases the traditional Saturday night bath was either

omitted entirely or taken in cold water."

On August 13, 1955, Newtown felt the fringe of Hurricane Connie. The entire

town was affected at some time by loss of electricity caused by trees and

branches falling on power lines.

The Newtown Hook and Ladder Company answered one call regarding broken wires

in Sandy Hook that temporarily trapped a motorist in his car.

The trapped motorist was discovered by an Arrow Line bus driver after his car

became entangled in hanging power lines in front of the insurance office of

William H. Knox. The bus driver reported the incident to Edward Pitzschler,

proprietor of the Newtown Barber Shop at the flagpole, and Mr Pitzschler

called the operator at Edmond Town Hall, who alerted the fire department.

Chief Lee Glover and Fire Marshal Albert Nichols rushed to the scene and

released the motorist after the power went off.

Other lines were broken at the home of sculptor John Angel on Old Mill Road,

at the Hennessey residence on Old Zoar Road and at the home of Walter H.

Selberg in Sandy Hook.

Connie's winds blew "lustily," through the morning. Torrential rains, "which

gave Connie her own peculiar claim to fame," according to The Bee , did

considerable damage to town roads. Washouts kept town trucks carrying fill to

the scenes.

The Damage Of Diane

Newtown was fortunate when Hurricane Diane hit the state on August 18, 1955.

Other towns, such as in the northwest corner and lower Naugatuck Valley did

not fare as well.

According to The Newtown Bee dated August 26, Diane was underestimated. The

winds had died down, it was announced, and the shrunken storm was expected to

pass through New England on a northeasterly course.

"But little attention appears to have been given to the capacity of the ground

for holding the vast quantity of rain that fell as Diane pushed into a

widespread mass of heated, saturated air," The Bee reported.

Fifteen inches of rain, more in some areas and less in others, fell in 24

hours. Ground already saturated by rains from Hurricane Connie could not hold

the new rainfall. By midnight Thursday, many brooks and rivers were over their

banks.

"By daylight the greatest flood in the state's history was an actuality," The

Bee stated.

Late on Friday, the flood made itself felt in Newtown when the water rose over

the banks at Shady Rest in Walnut Tree Hill District to flood several homes.

Most seriously damaged was the home of Charles Hull, where the water rose to

within two feet of the ceiling of the one-story house. All the families near

the river at Shady Rest were evacuated by trucks from S. Curtis & Son. A

considerable amount of household equipment and furniture was also moved to

higher ground.

Damage to Newtown roads from the rain was widespread, but not nearly as

devastating as flood damage to the north in Washington Depot, where the raging

Shepaug River washed out bridges and roads, completely wrecking the center of

town.

One other effect of the storm was to the new CL&P dam on the Housatonic

between Newtown and Southbury. On the Sunday following the storm, the dam

looked like any other water-powered hydroelectric plant might look during high

water.

The situation literally arose overnight, when rains upstate poured tons of

water into the streams and tributaries of the Housatonic. The new dam,

scheduled to go into operation late that summer, backed up the flood waters as

far as New Milford, creating in less than 24 hours the lake which was to have

taken weeks to form.

Ducking Donna

On September 16, 1960, The Bee reported that Newtown had been well prepared

for the possible serious threat of Hurricane Donna. Volunteers, including

firemen, Civil Defense workers, town highway crews and town officials were in

action early that previous Monday.

School was canceled in case children would face hazards in the return home.

The town fared better in the high winds and heavy rains than expected.

Nineteen trees went down over town roads, but at different times, enabling men

to be sent to clear the roads. None of the trees delayed traffic too long, but

they did cause widespread interruptions to electrical service. Power was

restored late Monday night.

There was little damage to town roads and catch basins coped with heavy rain

runoff.

Civil Defense, under the direction of Ross M. Phillips, was on the job early

and set up emergency radio communications. Full crews of firemen were on duty

at each of the firehouses. When the power went out, the fire department

generator was taken to Edmond Town Hall to supply power to operate radios.

A `Mean Woman'

According to The Newtown Bee dated September 3, 1971, Hurricane Doria was

identified as a tropical storm. However, Doria ripped her way through "with

all the fury and rage of a hurricane, letting everything in her path know that

she was a mean woman," The Bee reported.

Heavy rains fell the afternoon of August 27. By early Saturday morning, winds

had reached their peak, taking down trees, huge branches and power lines.

The rains kept up through Saturday and by the time it was over, there were

swollen creeks, newly created lakes in low-lying areas and flooded basements.

Power failures because of fallen wires caused outages of as long as 48 hours.

About 12,000 customers in Newtown, Danbury, Brookfield, Bethel and Monroe lost

power. Crews from New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode

Island were called in to help out. By 6 am Sunday most people had their power

back.

According to CL&P, 115,000 high voltage fuses had to be replaced. By

Wednesday, town road crews had finished the clearing of fallen trees.

Flood

On October 15 and 16, 1955, Newtown was not as lucky as it had been in August

when Hurricane Diane devastated other parts of the state. A flood ravaged the

town after three days of rain, The Bee reported on October 21.

The Pootatuck River, usually a mild stream, had risen and spilled over the

highway in Sandy Hook. The Housatonic River rose over the banks at Shady Rest,

and Half Way River was near the roadway of Route 34 at Stevenson.

The rain washed out roads and highways throughout the town. Damage to roads

was estimated at $100,000.

The most damage to a state highway was the partial destruction of Glen Road

near what was then the Plastic Molding Company. A large section of fill and

blacktop slid into Pootatuck Glen.

Damage to private property was believed to be as high as $200,000.

A dozen homes were flooded and many basements were flooded. Among them was

that of Charles Hull. Flooded out on August 19, the Hulls had the bitter

experience of seeing their home again inundated by water.

Tornadoes

Though many of us would like to believe that tornadoes do not happen here,

there have been occasional wind storms that fell under that classification in

Newtown and were reported on by The Newtown Bee .

Though they may have paled in magnitude from those common to other regions of

the country and even in this state, these storms did considerable damage to

trees and property.

A tornado on September 15, 1901 in South Center was reported on September 27.

"It made devastation such as never seen before in Newtown in the memory of

man," The Bee reported.

The velocity of the wind damaged property of E.L. Johnson estimated at about

$1,200.

Sixty-five apple trees were uprooted and blown over and a section of one barn

lost a roof, which was later found in a ravine.

Dozens of large healthy trees were partly uprooted or snapped off. One tree

was carried "65 rods" by the wind. Large chestnut, maple, and ash trees were

laid low.

A section of stone wall lay flat, a small farm building was on the ground in

sections, and a field of corn was wiped out as if a steam roller had run over

it.

While Mr Johnson said he regretted the loss of his orchard, he was thankful

that a row of shade trees near his home were spared, that no lives had been

lost, and damage to the buildings had been slight.

On July 1, 1898, what was described as a "young" tornado hit around 4 pm with

most of the fury of the storm centered over the borough.

Trees were down at the residences of the Misses Dikeman and Mrs S.C. Glover,

D. Beers at Sandy Hook, and large limbs at the Beers-Sanford residence.

"A curious freak of the wind was the twisting off of the metal gutters from

the west side of the Congregational parsonage and bending them neatly about

the big chimney like an up-to-date necktie," The Bee noted.

An empty wooden pail in Mr Ekins' yard hurled through the air and struck the

wind shield of Mr Morris' 1922 Dodge car, smashing it to pieces.

The storm also took down an ash tree, two apple trees, and a pear at the

property of A.D. and R.D. Fairchild in Taunton. A big silo was a total wreck,

and when it went down, it moved a smaller silo off its foundation.

Baby Cyclone

On May 25, 1934, The Bee reported on what it called a baby cyclone that

brought damage to the Sandy Hook area the previous Tuesday.

Trees were toppled, including a century-old maple in front of the house of Mrs

Lawrence Warner, which was uprooted and thrown against the house, causing

"quite a little damage." A tree on Miss Mary O'Dea's property was blown across

the driveway of Morris Beers, a tree on Mrs Alonzo White's property went down,

and the top of a tree in the yard of Dr Corrigan blocked the state highway.

"It was a fierce, wicked wind while it lasted and thoroughly affrighted almost

everyone. Up street, the tents of the Mardi Gras on Baxter Field were more or

less demoralized," The Bee reported.