When the Rain Stopped – Sunday, October 16th
The next morning the city was astonished to see that the unthinkable had happened in the night. The city center had been wiped out. Forty homes and fifteen factories were destroyed and hundreds more were damaged. The storm washed away six bridges and destroyed hundreds of boats in the harbor. Three people were killed. Flood damage in Norwalk was estimated at about 8 million dollars, equivalent to 56 million in today’s dollars.
Norwalk was the hardest hit by the surprise storm that struck the northeast on October 15th and 16th.
“I was 15 years old at the time of the flood – a Girl Scout. I got a call to go to the Civil Defense Office to answer phones. People called and asked for help and volunteers came in to get their assignments. Most of the calls were people saying that they had water up to the ceiling in the casement. I went down on Monday morning and was there all week.”
Judy Yates, 2005
“I’ll never forget. I was in the army stationed at Oahu, Hawaii. I was watching a newsreel at the post theatre and suddenly saw my hometown of Norwalk being washed away. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the pictures of how the flood destroyed the WNLK building.”
Donald Mahon, 2005