46 



i^ 



100 YEARS EXPLORING LIFE, 1888-1988 



The basement ofLillie, flooded during 

 Hurricane Carol, 1954. MBL Archives. 



tories, notifying the scientists and other workers of something unusual, the 

 water had already begun to rise rapidly. Over the next few hours a storm 

 wave brought water rushing over tlie breakwater and into the Eel Pond next 

 to the MBL's main buildings. As the pond rose to levels no one remembered 

 having seen before, streets flooded and the supply building filled with four 

 feet of water. 



Maria von Bertalanffy recalled even thirty years later the horrors of that 

 day. She and her husband, Ludwig, were working in the lab when tliey 

 noticed the storm suddenly brewing. They went outside to take pictures of 

 the dramatic skies and rising waves. Then they noticed that water was 

 actually rising in the streets and that their rented room on tlie first floor of 

 a house on Main Street might very well get wet. They decided to go home to 

 move things to safety. But as the winds and water rose rapidly, Maria took the 

 camera back to the lab first, intending to join her husband at home as soon 

 as she could. She returned to tlie flooded spot on Main Street and began to 

 cross tlie rising waters. As she struggled a voice urged her back, but she 

 ignored it. Then a powerful hand grabbed her, and the Coast Guard man 

 ordered her back to the laboratory building. A dozen oi- more people 

 huddled together there, each witli his or her own worries. Soon someone 

 came and told tliem they would have to leave, to go across tlie sti'eet. 

 Evidently batteries in tlie basement had gotten wet and were emitting what 

 were thought to be toxic fumes. The group ckmg to each othei- to struggle 



