Looking Back
Why Did This Happen? Could This Happen Again?
Lesser floods had been experienced by Norwalk and surrounding towns, but nothing of this magnitude had ever been seen before October of 1955.
“A catastrophe like the October 1955 flood usually happens once a century and for this reason it is called a ‘100 year storm’. This implies that there will be none other like it, in terms of both damage and the noted extreme, within a century of its occurrence. In essence, a flood that occurred on the Norwalk River in October 1955 should not be seen in these parts again until the midpoint of this century.
Larry Cosgrove, 2005
New Channel 12 Meteorologist
“The problem wasn’t so much that the river flooded, the problem was the devastation and tragic loss of lives and property caused by the flood. This happened because people built to closely to the river. When the 100 year storm hit and the river flooded its banks, it took out whatever was in its way.”
Mike Greene, 2005
Director, Norwalk Planning and Zoning
“In the 1950’s there was no protection for the wetlands. They did not realize that the marshes play a natural role in flood control. The wetlands hold extra storm water, then slowly filter the water and release it into the river. Stronger laws are not protecting the wetlands.”
Diane Lauricella, 2005
Founder, Norwalk River Watershed Association
“Although gale winds, high tides and heavy rains were forecast for the 14th and 15th of October, they did not contemplate the possibility that the rains and hurricanes of the preceding months had so saturated the lands or that the dams in or near Norwalk were so near the breaking point that flooding was imminent.”
Seymour S. Weisman, Ph.D., 1958
A CAST STUDY OF A FLOOD STRICKEN CITY
“After the flood, the Army Corps of Engineers made several changes to the Norwalk River to help prevent flooding. They built flood walls from Wall Street up to Cross Street, they built levees below the Merritt Parkway to protect the Perry Avenue area (a 1950s idea of a drainage system), they built flood control reservoirs in flood plain areas in Wilton and they rebuilt the bridges higher so they wouldn’t be washed away.”
Richard Linnartz, 2005
Principal Engineer
Norwalk Department of Public Works