HURRICANE TIDAL FLOOD DAMAGES 



U3. EXFEKTENCED DAMAGES 



Hurricane Carol of August 195U left in its wake a total flood 

 loss of about $92,000,000 in the Narragansett Bay area. Almost 80 

 percent of this loss was sustained by residential, commercial and 

 public property, including U.S. Naval property. The remainder was 

 sustained by industrial, rural, highway and railroad property, and 

 public utilities. See Appendix D for a detailed discussion and 

 tabulation of damages. Ihe city of Providence suffered far greater 

 damage than any other locality caught in the path of Hurricane 

 Carol. Losses in the city amounted to more than $Ul,000,000. The 

 heart of the business secticn was invindated by U to 8 feet of pol- 

 luted salt water. Hundreds of commercial establishments suffered 

 heavy losses, including in many instances a total loss of stock and 

 equipment. Industrial losses in the city amotinted to over 

 $6,700,000. 



Along the western shoreline of the bay south of Providence, 

 from Cranston to Point Judith, tidal flood damages amounted to al- 

 most $28,000,000. Two areas particularly hard hit on the west side 

 were ^-^rwick and North Kini^stown. Tidal flood losses on the east 

 side of the bay were almost as hiPih as those on the westj in the 

 area extending from East Providence to Sakonnet Point, including 

 the Mount Hope Bay area, damapjes totaled more than $23,000,000. 



Flood damages in the hurricane of 1938 were even greater than 

 in Hurricane Carol. Althou.^ no accurate evaluation of experienced 

 1938 damages is available, it is estimated that a recurrence of the 

 1938 flood stages at price levels prevailing in 19^6 would cause 

 losses of about $120,000,000, of which nearly 08,000,000 would be 

 incurred within "the Massachusetts portion of the Narra^qjansett Bay 

 area, as shown in Plate 2. 



In addition to the evaluated losses in the Narra^nsett Bay 

 area, there are categories of losses which were not included or in- 

 cluded only in part, because loss information in usable form was 

 meagre or unavailable. Available evidence indicated, hov/ever, that 

 these losses were substantial in the tidal flooding of 1938 and 

 195U. These categories consist of (l) tangible losses to non-fixed 

 or transient items such as craft afloat and vehicles parked on 

 streets or in parking lots; (2) tangible losses outside the immediate 

 flood area; and (3) intangible losses such as loss of life, health, 

 security, and detrimental effects upon national defense, which are 

 either indeterminate or monetarily unmeasurable. 



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