Date: Fri 01-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Illustration: C

Location: A-9

Quick Words:

Washington-Flood-Gunn-1955

Full Text:

40 Years Ago, Record Rains Made The Scene

(with photos)

By Andrew Gorosko

WASHINGTON - The Shepaug River most often runs low in August, its clear cool

waters slowly draining down its verdant valley to the Housatonic River and the

sea.

But 40 years ago, in August 1955, it was different.

Record August rainfall saturated western Connecticut, soaking the rural

highlands until the soil could hold no more moisture.

The trailing edge of Hurricane Diane dumped more than a foot of rain on parts

of Litchfield County on August 18 and 19, 1955, swelling brooks, streams and

rivers, pushing them past flood stage. Just two weeks earlier, the area had

suffered heavy rainfall during another hurricane.

It seemed the rain would never stop.

On the night of August 18 and during the early morning hours of August 19,

riverine flotsam accumulated at the base of an embankment which carried Route

202 across the Shepaug River in Woodville. Three culverts that carried the

river through the earthen mound became plugged with flood debris, causing

ponding that stretched far back behind the bank.

At the height of the flood, water six feet deep was pouring over the Lower

Shepaug Reservoir spillway.

Growing water pressure in the steadily growing pond caused the embankment to

burst, sending shards of Route 202's pavement, plus boulders, trees and other

debris, cascading downstream in a surge.

As the torrent rolled down the river, the curving Shepaug Valley walls choked

the rushing water into a series of wave pulses which then jacked up the river

downstream.

The pulses wound through Hidden Valley, gaining speed and volume after taking

on water from the tributaries, the Bantam River and Bee Brook.

Tumbling downstream, the turbid floodwater damaged or destroyed several

vehicular bridges in its path.

Whitecapped waves washed through Bryan Memorial Plaza in Washington Depot,

lapping up near the foot of town hall.

Houses, barns, garages, trees and even live cattle were carried downriver.

"Upturned automobiles leaned crazily against trees. Shattered small buildings

were smashed against large buildings," according to a report in the August 26,

1955, edition of The Newtown Bee .

Photo Show

To commemorate the flood of 40 years ago, The Historical Museum of The Gunn

Memorial Library is holding an exhibit of documentary photographs which will

be on display through the end of December. Admission is free to "The Flood of

1955" at the museum, on Route 47 at Washington Green. The museum is open

Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 pm, each day.

The display is supported by funding from The National Endowment for The

Humanities and The Washington Connecticut Antiques Show.

As one enters the museum lobby, photos of Washington Depot before the 1955

flood are displayed, giving visitors a sense of what the area looked like

before the deluge.

A hallway holds a seies of turn-of-the-century photographic prints of the

Depot by Joseph West. Due to the large number of mills in the Depot at the

time, it was known as Factory Hollow, said Sarah Griswold, the museum curator.

The museum received the loan of the photos on display for the show from

private sources and the Town of Washington.

One photo shown in the main gallery of the museum is particularly illustrative

of the flood's impact on the Depot. It is an aerial view of the Depot taken

from about 1,000 feet altitude. The section of the Depot which was submerged

in the flood is shaded with a blue tint, indicating the extent of the

floodwaters in the area.

The public's response to the photo exhibit has been good, Ms Griswold said.

"There were some people here who have said `It's bringing it all back,'" of

the immediacy of the destruction depicted in the documentary photos, she said.

The museum plans to do an oral history project on the flood of 1955 in which

the recollections of those involved in the flood will be recorded on audiotape

for posterity, Ms Griswold said.

It's amazing how vividly people remember the flood, she noted.