New England Hurricane (1927)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1927 New England Hurricane , also known as the 1927 New England Flood , was a major flood disaster that caused great damage to the states of Massachusetts , Vermont , Maine, and Rhode Island in early November 1927 . 85 people died in the disaster, 84 of them in Vermont, including the incumbent Lieutenant Governor Hollister Jackson and one person in Rhode Island. 1258 bridges, alone on the larger rivers, were destroyed, as were countless private houses and other buildings, some of which were swept away by the masses of water, as well as large parts of the road and rail infrastructure.

root cause

On November 2nd, two storm fronts collided in the Green Mountains . A tropical storm from the south and a cold front from the west caused heavy rain. After October brought more than 150% of the usual rainfall, the soil was no longer able to absorb this renewed amount of rain. At the National Weather Bureau's monitoring station in Northfield , 8.71 inches of precipitation was measured from the evening of November 2nd to the morning of November 4th. However, there were also areas where up to 15 inches of rainfall was measured.

Effects

These rainfalls resulted in widespread flooding. In the center of the floods was the Connecticut River with the White River Valley . They further extend to Lake Champlain and east to the Merrimack River Basin . The White River reached a height of 10.66 m or 5.20 m above normal and thus its highest level ever measured.

These water masses, together with the high flow speed along the Connecticut River, led to countless damage to bridges, houses and other structures. The crown of the Holyoke Power Dam was flooded by about 4.5 meters and when the flood wave reached Hartford at White River Junction on November 7th , it was about 8.8 meters high.

The valley of the Winooski River was also badly affected . Here 5 to 7 inches of precipitation fell within 24 hours. Downtown Montpelier was about 3 m under water. 55 people died in this area due to the masses of water. Most of them were surprised by the heavy rains during the night and often had no way of getting to safety from the masses of water, as roads and bridges had already been destroyed.

Many tributaries of the Hudson River such as the Batten Kill or the Hoosic River led to record floods, which also occurred in large areas of Maine , mainly in Androscoggin County .

85 people were killed, 84 in Vermont and one person in Rhode Island, 1,450 bridges were destroyed and around 690 farms were destroyed. Around 9,000 people were made homeless, roads and railways were damaged, as well as electricity and telephone lines and mail distribution had to be stopped. The damage amounted to about 40 million US dollars , this corresponded in 1997 about 960 million US dollars.

Consequences of the flood

In a speech, the Brave Little State of Vermont Speech, on September 21, 1928 in Bennington, President Calvin Coolidge praised the willingness of the people of Vermont to work and to rebuild:

[...] I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont

“I love Vermont for its mountains and valleys, its landscapes and the stimulating climate, but most of all for its indomitable people. This is a breed of pioneers who almost beggary to serve others. Should the spirit of freedom wane in other parts of the Union and the support of our institutions should wear out, it could all be replenished from the generous memory of the people in this brave little state of Vermont. "

- Calvin Coolidge

In that year, until the president's visit, the state had to borrow money from the government in Washington for the first time in its history to enable the reconstruction of the infrastructure. For around 8 million US dollars, 200 miles of road were built, and 1,329 bridges were replaced in 1928 alone. The state received $ 2.6 million in aid from the US government. Further US government money went to aid organizations such as the Red Cross and World War I veterans' organizations, which came to Vermont and built dams and did other work.

Processing in the literature

literature

  • Deborah Pickman Clifford, Nicholas Rowland Clifford, "The Troubled Roar of the Waters": Vermont in Flood and Recovery, 1927-1931 . University Press of New England, Lebanon 2007, ISBN 978-1-58465-654-8

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b National Weather Service, The Great Vermont Flood of 1927, Nov 3-4, accessed December 20, 2014
  2. ↑ The Flood of '27 Vermont Historical Society, accessed on 20 December 2014
  3. ^ A b New England Flood of November 1927 National Weather service, accessed December 20, 2014
  4. ↑ a b NEW ENGLAND REMEMBERS NOVEMBER 1927 FLOOD ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. NOAA National Oceanic and Admospheric Administration, accessed December 20, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov
  5. ↑ a b At nature's mercy: Vermonters prove their mettle through floods, flu and blizzards , from Nancy Bazilchuk from: The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, March 29, 1999, accessed December 20, 2014

Web links