and sand-bagging lower floors and windows, evacuating lowi»lying 

 areas, remoTing goods and equipment to higher levels, piilling 

 snail craft ashore, driving vehicles to high groimd, and flying 

 aircraft out of the area. A warning system, no matter how 

 extensive and elaborate, may not provide sufficient time for 

 adequate precautions. The hurricane of 1938 j for example, 

 which was at one time reported stalled off Cape Hatteras, North 

 Carolina, swept over the Narragansett Bay area, almost unannounced, 

 only 8 hours later. 



Hxirricane alerts and near misses that resiilt in "scares" only 

 seriously interfere with the normal activities of the affected 

 residents and mean undue hardship and great economic loss. The 

 entire central business area of Providence, for instance, was 

 evacuated, after long hours of sandbagging and construction of 

 barricades, in anticipation of Hurricane Hazel (September 195U) 

 i^ich eventually moved up Chesapeake Bay and across lake Erie into 

 Canada, avoiding the Narragansett Bay area entirely. For the 

 Narragansett Bay area, a "scare" has been estimated to cost about 

 $325>0OO. Adequate hinricane warnings are necessary, however, to 

 5T^)plement any plan of protection for Narragansett Bay, partic- 

 ularly for barriers with gated openings where closures of the gates 

 against tidal flood rises would be contingent v^on evaluation of 

 storm conditions. As part of its responsibility for improved 

 weather services in connection with major storms and hurricanes, 

 the Weather Bureau has established a "severe weather" network 

 along the Atlantic coast, utilizing powerful radarscopes. The 

 lifeather Bureau office in Rhode Island, at the Theodore Francis Green 

 Airport in Vajrwickj is linked to this network by means of a radar 

 installation on Nantucket, which has a range of about 250 miles* 

 This installation is backed \3y others at Boston, Worcester, 

 Hartford and New York City, 



b. Revision of zoning regulations and building codes . Con- 

 sideration of the wazTiings and emergency measures above leads to 

 thought of more permanent relocation of goods and equipment to 

 higher floor levels, relocation out of the flood area entirely, 

 or of more substantial construction to resist the destructive forces 

 of high water and waves. State and local governments have proposed 

 adoption of zoning restrictions to prevent new construction in 

 critical flood areas and revision of building codes to require 

 sturdy structures for areas iriiere buildings were demolished by 

 the storm tide. For existing concentrations of homes, commercial 

 establishments and industries, such measures have met with strong 

 opposition because of the high investment in property and the 

 prospective loss to property owners and municipalities. 



The responsibility for enacting legislation on zoning and 

 building regulations lies with the states and municipalities con- 

 cerned. After Hurricane Carol (195U) the State of Rhode Island 

 embarked on a shore development program to aid communities by 

 acquiring, for recreational and wildlife development, private 



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