I remember August 19th, 1955 clearly. I was working that summer between high school and college in Windsor. I lived on Bushy Hill Road in Simsbury, which was elevated and away from the lowlands.
It was raining hard that morning as I left for work but there was no indication of what was happening on the rivers in Western Conn. As I passed the area beyond the Ethel Walker School there was a small brook that was overflowing its banks but I just attributed it to the torrential rain. When I reached the intersection of Bushy Hill Road and West Street, water from Stratton Brook had flooded the entire area to the east and west. There was no way that anyone could get through.
I turned around and headed towards my home and dedided to go to the Bushy Hill Firehouse. Arriving there it was evident that something big was going on as all of the trucks were out and there was a great number of firemen and volunteers waiting to see what was going to happen. Over the next several days I was part of the volunteer group.
Three memories still stick out in my mind. The first was at Drake Hill where the water was edging slowly up towards the CL&P substation and the power had to be disconnected. I rowed the boat into the enclosure to the substation with the CL&P employee who had a long pole to shut down the ciruit breakers. It was pretty harrowing, but as an 18-year-old I didn't think it was any big deal, but it was as I found out later.
The second memory was when we brought food and water from the Pettibone Tavern to the east side of the river, which was completely cut off from dry land by the flooding of the Farmington River. Many homes on East Weatogue Street and Riverside Road were were flooded up to the second story. The Farmington river was swollen and full of all kinds of debris.
The third memory was about four days after the flood and there was concern about disease and all of the volunteers and people that were in the flood areas had to get typhoid shots. Old Doc Murphy set up tables outside and we all lined up to receive our shots.
All of northwestern Conn and the Farmington Valley was devasted by this 500-year flood. From the Main Street of Winsted, through New Hartford and Satan's Kingdom, into Collinsville, Unionville and Farmington. I could not beleive the power of the water after viewing these areas a few weeks after the flood. Bailey bridges were erected by the Army Corp of Engineers where major bridges had washed out and Connecticut struggled to return to some sense of normalcy.
It was raining hard that morning as I left for work but there was no indication of what was happening on the rivers in Western Conn. As I passed the area beyond the Ethel Walker School there was a small brook that was overflowing its banks but I just attributed it to the torrential rain. When I reached the intersection of Bushy Hill Road and West Street, water from Stratton Brook had flooded the entire area to the east and west. There was no way that anyone could get through.
I turned around and headed towards my home and dedided to go to the Bushy Hill Firehouse. Arriving there it was evident that something big was going on as all of the trucks were out and there was a great number of firemen and volunteers waiting to see what was going to happen. Over the next several days I was part of the volunteer group.
Three memories still stick out in my mind. The first was at Drake Hill where the water was edging slowly up towards the CL&P substation and the power had to be disconnected. I rowed the boat into the enclosure to the substation with the CL&P employee who had a long pole to shut down the ciruit breakers. It was pretty harrowing, but as an 18-year-old I didn't think it was any big deal, but it was as I found out later.
The second memory was when we brought food and water from the Pettibone Tavern to the east side of the river, which was completely cut off from dry land by the flooding of the Farmington River. Many homes on East Weatogue Street and Riverside Road were were flooded up to the second story. The Farmington river was swollen and full of all kinds of debris.
The third memory was about four days after the flood and there was concern about disease and all of the volunteers and people that were in the flood areas had to get typhoid shots. Old Doc Murphy set up tables outside and we all lined up to receive our shots.
All of northwestern Conn and the Farmington Valley was devasted by this 500-year flood. From the Main Street of Winsted, through New Hartford and Satan's Kingdom, into Collinsville, Unionville and Farmington. I could not beleive the power of the water after viewing these areas a few weeks after the flood. Bailey bridges were erected by the Army Corp of Engineers where major bridges had washed out and Connecticut struggled to return to some sense of normalcy.
L.A. for less than the price of sunblock. 
