|
On March 12, 1936, rain began falling across Connecticut,
as well as all of New England, and poured down for the next nine
days. Fourteen inches of rain, coupled with melting snows from
the area's mountains, unleashed on Connecticut the greatest floods
in its history to that date. The Connecticut and Farmington Rivers
and all of their tributaries became raging torrents. Water and
ice flows tore out bridges, highways, roads, and railways. The
dam at New Hartford burst, and homes and buildings were washed
away or destroyed. The waters at Hartford rose to a level of 8.6
feet higher than any previous flood level on record, flooding
most of the downtown commercial area. Fourteen thousand people
were left homeless, several were dead or missing, and epidemic
disease threatened the population. The National Guard was called
to action as the ravaging floods paralyzed business, traffic,
communication, and home life, as the cities and towns along the
rivers became the principal centers of destruction. While loss
of life was small, damages exceeded $100 million, making it the
costliest New England weather event to that time.
|
Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut, during
the Flood of 1936.
Photo CD Number 2775 img0005
|
Bushnell Park
is submerged by the waters of the Flood of 1936. The State Capitol
Building is in the background.
|
The Connecticut River inundates Hartford and
East Hartford, Connecticut, during the March 1936 flood.
Photo CD ID 3153 img0046.pcd |
The devastating encroachment of the flood waters
in Hartford and East Hartford, looking south, is shown in this
photograph taken by F.F. Fisher.
|
|
A crowd observes the flooding of a parking
lot behind the Bond Hotel in Hartford during the Flood of 1936.
Photo CD Number IMG0006-1015
|
A parking lot
behind the Bond Hotel in Hartford, Connecticut, is submerged by
flood water.
|
Flooding in the streets of Hartford, Connecticut,
during the Flood of 1936.
Photo CD Number IMG0004-2775 |
The streets of
Hartford, Connecticut, are flooded after the deluge of March 1936.
Note the man on stilts in the middle of the photograph
|
Flooding inside the Southern New England Telephone
Company office on Trumbull Street in Hartford, Connecticut, during
the Flood of 1936.
Photo CD Number IMG0006-2775 |
The first floor
of the Trumbull Street office in Hartford of the Southern New
England Telephone Company is flooded up to the desktops during
the Flood of 1936.
|
The National Guard is called up for service
in Hartford, Connecticut, during the Flood of 1936.
Photo CD number 2824 img0008.pcd |
The National
Guard, shown here in Hartford, was called out during the Flood
of 1936.
|
Introduction:
The Eye of the Storm The
Blizzard of 1888
The
Hurricane of 1938
The Hurricane of 1944
The Floods of 1955
Guideposts
Suggestions
for further reading
|
 |
|
