I was born in New Bedford exactly 8 days before Hurricane Carol arrived. The storm, similar in many ways to Sandy, reached landfall on the morning of August 31. The effects on the city and the surrounding low lying areas were devastating, as the 110 mph winds and 14 foot storm surge swept up Buzzards Bay and inundated the shoreline. Most of the inner harbor, the city's lifeblood, was destroyed. Sixty souls in the path of the storm perished, along with 6500 homes, 3000 boats, and nearly half a billion dollars in wealth.
Eight years later, my father fulfilled his life long dream of building a house on the water. He picked a rocky bit of shoreline on Clark's Cove just inside the Dartmouth line. Remembering the tumultuous and tragic circumstances of my arrival, he chose high ground, 35 feet above sea level, and built a six foot sea wall 10 feet back from the high water mark. I'm happy to report to you that Sandy left the home I grew up in untouched.
As a result of Carol and the New England Hurricane of 1938, the Eisenhower administration approved 10 million dollars dollars for approval of construction of the New Bedford hurricane dike. After the predictable cost overruns, the dike was completed in 1962 at a total cost of 17 million.
The dike closed across the entire harbor Monday afternoon. I'm sure the good citizens of New York wish they had similar protection.
Of course, between conservatives on one side and environmentalists on the other, such a structure could never be built today.
Eli
No comments:
Post a Comment