The Flood of 1955: Damage to Georgetown, immense, costly
By ROBERT M. ONORATO, REDDING PILOT
Oct 13, 2005
Fifty years ago Georgetown, Conn., was struck by one of the
worst natural disasters that the region has experienced in the last century. It
was certainly the worst to hit the small, rural town since the Hurricane of
1938.
As a result of a major tropical storm and several days of intense
rain in October 1955, most of the town and its surroundings were left under
several feet of water. The damage that resulted was immense and the storm and
its aftermath affected virtually every person living in the area at the
time.
The fall of the year actually began quite calmly for the residents
of Georgetown following a stormy summer. August had brought twin hurricanes to
Connecticut. Between Aug. 13 and 20, Hurricanes Connie and Diane both struck the
Northeast, dumping a combined total of 24 inches of rain on northern
Connecticut. Many parts of the state received record levels of flooding and
widespread damage. Georgetown, compared to other nearby areas, endured much less
water and flood damage. It appeared that those living in Georgetown had been
lucky. Their luck, however, would soon change.
Two months later another
storm would strike Connecticut. This time a tropical storm would rage across the
state. Although not as forceful as the twin hurricane blast, this lone storm
would prove more damaging to Georgetown.
The flood
It began to rain on the
morning of Friday, Oct. 14, 1955. By 5:30 p.m., less than an inch of rain had
fallen, according to Charles Howes, Georgetown’s weather observer at the time.
Two more inches of rain fell by midnight. By noon on Saturday, another two and a
half inches of rain had fallen. Although significant, this seven inches of
rainfall over more than 24 hours was slower and somewhat less intense than what
was received during the August hurricanes. But in August, the dams surrounding
Georgetown and Redding had held and the waters of the Norwalk and Saugatuck
rivers stayed within their banks. Two months later, in October, the result would
be much different.
But why would a supposedly less severe storm have a
more disastrous effect on the town? First, the paths of the storms probably
contributed to the differences in outcomes. In August, the northern parts of the
state received the greatest and most intense rainfall, sparing lower Fairfield
County from the worst damage. In October, the situation was reversed: The
southern parts of the state received the greatest amounts of rain, despite the
fact that this time it was “only” a tropical storm that delivered the dangerous
weather. In addition, Brent Colley, a local expert on the history of Georgetown,
Redding and Norwalk, points out that by October, “... the ground had been
saturated by a wetter than usual summer and the back-to-back hurricanes.” By the
time of the October storm, “... the ground, the dams and the rivers were in much
worse shape to handle all of that water.”
Early in the storm, on Friday
night, Art Moore, then a 26-year-old employed by Connecticut Light & Power,
left his house in Georgetown to see how high the rivers had risen. Even at this
early hour, he found that he couldn’t get out of his neighborhood. Yet, the
worst was still to come.
On
standby
By mid-afternoon on Saturday the waters continued to rise,
although the dams had still held to this point. Mr. Colley said that at this
time, “... the Georgetown Fire Department and all available men were stationed
at the bridges into town and at Branchville.” The gasoline tanks from
Branchville Motors garage were washing out and it was feared that they would
explode or cause fires. The firemen and volunteers were going to try to stop or
catch them somehow if the waters began to wash them away into town.
By 6
p.m. Saturday, the Norwalk River had flooded Route 7 from the Branchville
(railroad) station to south of the Georgetown Motors garage. “The Branchville
train station, businesses and homes in the area were swamped; the bridge near
Branchville cemetery was completely washed away,” Mr. Colley said. Shortly
thereafter, some residents of Branchville and Georgetown were evacuated using
small boats and heavy trucks. Some who did not have nearby relatives or friends
were taken to the Georgetown firehouse to spend the night.
A little
before 9 p.m., the dam at Perry’s Pond on Route 53 above Georgetown (now Route
107) gave out, sending water rushing into the heart of Georgetown. There was
also a small landslide about a half-mile up Route 53, but cars were still able
to get through the road at this time.
By 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mr.
Colley reported, “... the water was four feet deep in the center of Georgetown.”
Factory Pond was so high that residents later told that the water was up to the
porches of their homes on Portland Avenue, where Art Moore lived. He still could
not leave his neighborhood and get to work for CL&P. “They (CL&P) had to
come get me on Sunday,” Mr. Moore said.
Another dam gives way
At about the same time, the dam at Great Pond gave
way. Water was then sent surging through the Norwalk River valley taking down
the other dams and bridges in its path. Next, the concrete bridge on Route 7
(which is parallel to the railroad trestle between DeLuca’s Hardware and Bob
Sharp) crashed into the river. Then the trestle itself collapsed, leaving the
tracks hanging over the river with no support beneath them.
Then, at
around 11 p.m. on Saturday, the embankment surrounding the dam on the property
at the Gilbert & Bennett factory gave way. Water poured into the factory
property. More flood waters poured into Georgetown. The water reached heights of
“... eight to 12 feet in the (Gilbert & Bennett) factory and throughout its
property,” Mr. Colley reported.
“The water was at least seven feet deep
in Georgetown,” Mr. Moore recalled.
Flood Pictures, a pictorial book of
the floods of 1955, reported there was “... 12 feet of water down the Main
Street of Georgetown.”
As the dams and bridges succumbed one by one, more
and more water was sent down the valley to Cannondale and then Wilton. In turn,
the bridges in Wilton that spanned the Norwalk River were washed away. These
towns, too, were heavily damaged by the rising and raging water. Meanwhile, most
of Georgetown remained under water. The Danbury News-Times of Oct. 17, 1955,
reported, “Georgetown suffered the worst of any communities along the Norwalk
River between Danbury and Norwalk.”
The
damage
When the embankment at the Gilbert & Bennett factory
collapsed and the dam broke, much of Connery’s Lumber Yard, or at least much of
the lumber, was washed away. The broken dam released water as high as nine feet
(according to witnesses) rushing down Main Street. The damage to the businesses
along Main Street was great. As Brent Colley described, “... goods, stock and
equipment in restaurants, groceries and other business establishments were
ruined — wiped out.” Much of the inventory and equipment were a total loss. But
the buildings were still standing. Connery Brothers’ original building on the
opposite side of Route 57 was undamaged. “It stood on an island,” Mr. Colley
reported, “the surrounding highway being washed away.”
The Danbury
News-Times reported that, “... all business places in Georgetown were
flooded.”
A local Red Cross survey team, Mr. Colley said, “... reported
that nine businesses along the Norwalk River suffered total loss of inventory;
26 received major damage; 19 suffered minor damage. The water reached the first
floor or higher in 70 houses.” It was estimated that more than 1,000 cellars
were flooded.
The most concentrated single area of devastation was
probably the Gilbert & Bennett mill, which sustained almost $1 million in
damage alone.
This great flood incurred an ultimate human cost as well.
On Saturday night, as they were returning home from dinner at the house of a
friend, the car that Edward Arthur Phoenix was driving was swept into the river
below the bridge on Fox Run Road. Edward Phoenix was quickly washed away into
the raging water. His wife, Veronica, clung to a tree for more than three hours
while volunteer firemen and Georgetown residents tried to save her. During this
time the wild and wet storm raged on around Mrs. Phoenix and the rescuers were
unable to reach her throughout. Eventually her strength failed, she could no
longer hold on to the tree, and Veronica Phoenix drowned. Although Mr. and Mrs.
Phoenix were the only human casualties of the terrible weekend, their loss was
possibly the saddest and most difficult for the town.
The cleanup
Although the devastation and
damage were great, the community responded immediately. And even if it did not
appear that the people of Georgetown were as lucky in October as they had been
in August of 1955, they were fortunate is some ways. For example, when the rain
stopped on Sunday, “... the water receded very quickly,” observed Harry Colley,
a lifelong resident of Georgetown. This allowed for the quick assessment of
damage and the immediate start of cleanup.
In addition, very few homes
and businesses were actually washed away or destroyed in all of the flooding.
While many businesses and private residences were damaged, only a few were
damaged beyond repair or were declared to be unusable. For most residents and
business owners, it was a matter of repair, cleanup and restocking.
The
first major task was to clear the roads so that people and supplies could move
in and out of Georgetown, Redding and Wilton. Although it took time to fully
repair the roadways and bridges, many city and state employees, as well as
volunteers, worked together, and by the end of the week, most roads were fully
or partially open or usable detours had been created.
Art Moore and his
fellow CL&P workers toiled for days to restore power to the area. Harry
Colley, an electrical contractor at the time, worked all weekend and throughout
the next week to help provide generators to the stores of the area so that they
could clean up, restock and re-open as soon as possible.
People make a difference
Perhaps the
greatest resource of the town was its people. Georgetown residents like Mr.
Moore and Mr. Colley, along with hundreds of others, helped the firemen,
policemen, Red Cross, and city and state employees without being asked. It was
the efforts of these people to help their neighbors that allowed much of life in
Georgetown to return to some degree of normalcy in only a matter of weeks,
instead of months. Even the Gilbert & Bennett factory and grounds, which
sustained almost $1million in damage, were cleaned up, restored, repaired, and
re-opened in just two months, Brent Colley pointed out.
As Harry Colley
said, “The people of Redding and Georgetown simply helped their
neighbors.”
Mr. Moore added, “Everybody just kicked in and we got things
going.”
The flood of 1955 was one of the most destructive and significant
events in the history of Georgetown, causing several millions of dollars in
damage throughout the area. All those who were alive at the time vividly
remember the stormy weekend, the devastation that resulted from the rains and
flood, the cooperation of the cleanup efforts in the weeks that followed, and
the two lives that were lost. Yet those who were born after the great and tragic
event are often not aware of the awesome flood and its aftermath. And those who
have recently moved into the quiet, beautiful town are unaware of the
destruction that occurred in one autumn weekend 50 years ago. To these people,
Georgetown is simply a beautiful place to live. After all, as Brent Colley
pointed out, “the Norwalk River has not had a significant flood since
1955.”