The Nor'easter and The Norwalk River
Yesterday morning, I had to visit a doctor's office in Norwalk, CT to have my remaining stitches removed from my carpal tunnel syndrome (oh yeah, by the way, I had carpal tunnel surgery two Mondays ago). The office is next to the Norwalk River, a typically relaxed waterway that many locals, I'm certain, are unaware of it's existence. Well, thanx to the bad weather, it was entertaining to watch the river from my car while I waited to go in for my appointment. You can go here to see the pictures I snapped before the rain go to heavy to be outside.
posted by Dave Novak @ 10:00 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Back in the 50's that river once engulfed the entire area known as, you guessed it "Water Street".
I once read that the water rose all the way up to East ave.
Since then they have reworked the area but occasionally the river still floods water street.
More Norwalk River History;
The first major U.S. railroad disaster occurred in Norwalk in 1853. An engineer carelessly neglected to check the open drawbridge signal as his one hundred and fifty passenger train approached the Norwalk River. He only realized the bridge was up within about four hundred feet of the gap, which proved to be insufficient to stop the train. The engineer and the fireman jumped from the train and then the locomotive, two baggage cars (the latter also a car for smokers) and two and a half passenger cars (the third car split when the train finally came to a stop) went plunging off the tracks into the river. Forty-six people drowned or were crushed to death, and an approximately thirty people were more or less severely injured.
Yikes even more history!
The Great Flood of 1955
Norwalk, Main and Wall Street, October 16, 1955.
Over the weekend of October 14-17, 1955, 12-14 inches of tropical storm rain caused the Norwalk River, along with many other Connecticut rivers, to severely flood (the state-wide destruction prompted President Eisenhower to declare a disaster area in Connecticut). The flooding caused the most severe damage of any flood in the history of Norwalk. From the heavy rains some dams along the Norwalk River broke, sending walls of water surging downstream, knocking out birdges and additional dams. Many of the Norwalk River’s neighboring towns and communities suffered widespread devastation. Several lives were lost in addition to millions of dollars worth of damage along the Norwalk River watershed alone.
www.answers.com/topic/norwalk1955flooda-jpg
Check out this flood photo from the Connecticut State Library, State Archives, file name: 55flood50. U.S. Coast Guard Photo. Norwalk, CT, Main and Wall Street, October 16, 1955
EVEN BETTER!
http://www.cslib.org/flood1955.htm#nor.htm
Check out this page directly from the Connecticut State Archives.
Scroll down to the bottom for really nice photos of the flood damage.
Hey Whose Blog Is This anyway!!!!!
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