Hurricane Donna Doesn’t Get the Credit She Deserves.

By M.L.Baron westislandweather.com

When SouthCoast refers to hurricanes past, the big three usually take the front row seat. The 1938, 1944 and 1954 hurricanes are rubber stamped as a reference point for powerful hurricanes that have impacted southern New England. It is rare that Hurricane Donna that struck the area on Sept 12, 1960 ever gets mentioned up in this neck of the woods. Maybe its because there wasn’t a souvenir hurricane photo book published about it, at least that I know of.

However Donna remains as one of the most volatile hurricanes on record. Donna developed off the Cape Verde Islands, a notorious breeding ground for tropical storms in late August. The storm quickly intensified into a Category 3 hurricane. A Category 3 hurricane is considered intense with wind ranging from 111 mph to 135mph. Tidal surges reach up to 12 ft.

On a westerly track, Donna eventually passed north of Puerto Rico and intensified further. It soon became the main focus of attention to The National Weather Service and meteorologists around the world. Hurricane Donna began its historical trek into infamy as it impacted both sides of the Florida peninsula bringing Category 4 force destructive wind gusts of 150 mph and 13 ft tidal surges. The low lying land mass areas of Florida weren’t enough to down grade Donna.
The hurricane remained a Category 3 as it crashed into the Carolinas with 120 mph wind and headed straight for Long Island with nothing to impede or divert its track. Block Island reported wind gusts to 130 mph and New Bedford 90+ mph sustained. Tidal surges ranged from 5 to 10 feet.

Donna still holds the title as the only hurricane to impact the most states in a single hurricane event. The storm is also the 5th strongest on record with the barometer bottoming out at 27.46 inches.

So with all this information put forth, Donna deserves to be part of the legendary group of SouthCoast hurricanes past. While we’re at it, we have a special place in hurricane history for Hurricane Bob as well. The 20th anniversary from southern New England’s last major hurricane is on August 19, 2011. I will soon be putting together a special on Bob for FNN. For more information visit our expanded hurricane features at westislandweather.com.

In 1954, “New” West Islanders Were the First to

Experience a Major Hurricane Here

1952

150 Cottages Built in 3 Years On Fairhaven's West Island

Car membership badge identified motorists as residents of Fairhaven Estates and were allowed to passage by a guard shack posted on the causeway.

The Summer of '52 West Island Estates.

Antone Teixeira and future wife to be, Evelyn catch the summer breeze on the front lawn at his mother's cottage he just built at 47 Alder St. This was one of the first cottages on West Island. Two years later Hurricane Carol struck on Aug 31, 1954. Many houses (photo below)were devastated or destroyed on this street, but the little cottage went unscathed. A West Island Hurricane Carol Photo Album is under construction for this site.

By M.L.Baron westislandweather.com 6/14/2011

WEST ISLAND: With the hurricanes of 1938 and 1944 still fresh in local minds, new West Island residents who began to build summer cottages on the mostly uninhabited island in the late 40's had nobody to tell them what previous hurricanes were like out here. In fact, most of those who bought cottages through developers of Fairhaven Estates in 1952, were from out-of-town inland areas. So many were already oblivious as to what hurricanes could do to coastal property in the first place. On Tuesday, August 31, 1954, they found out.

The island never had this number of structures before that had endured prior hurricanes. In the first 2 years much of the planned 150 summer cottages were already cluttered side by side along the much sought after waterfront lots of Alder and Balsam Streets. (on the west facing side of the island.) Most of this area is about 3 feet above sea level. Some 200 families now occupied the 535 acre island.

Carol, the first named hurricane to impact the northeast arrived Tuesday, August 31, 1954. The Category 2 hurricane brought in tidal surges over 10 feet accompanied by 110 mph winds. Just 10 days later Hurricane Edna struck on September 11th. Edna caused some more chaos to an already dazed SouthCoast. However, the worst damage was more localized to Cape Cod.

Some island residents decided to sell their property after the hurricanes and there were few takers. The asking price ranged from $300 to $500.00 for a vacant lot where their little summer paradise once stood. Some cottages that were dragged off their foundations that remained mostly intact were salvaged and remain standing on their original lots today. To view rare photos of the island damage visit :

West Island Hurricane Carol Photo Album

Note:
Today, for sale signs along this waterfront pop up occasionally. Real estate advertisements hype the lure of the sea and beauty of the ocean, but most shy away from putting in the fine print about the serious vulnerability and dangers that could await prospective buyers.
With all this in mind people will still buy these expensive properties and take a chance. After all they can afford to. The common practice is to bulldoze the little quaint cottage and put a huge “McMansion” on stilts in its place, ruining the aesthetics of the island. Typically, these kind of owners are from out-of-town or state and have no roots or vested interest in the community. They take advantage of the island for what it’s worth during the summer and spend the winter elsewhere.
One corner lot that was sold recently was cleared and every tree chopped down. An enormous box like structure that appears to be a house, (because it has window shutters) was erected.
In the driveway, a little “Prius” hybrid electric car is parked in the shade of this 3 story monstrosity. Now, that’s what I call looking out for the environment.

City's hurricane-barrier wonder of the world

MLBaron comments on Standard-Times article in making the Hurricane Barrier more recreational friendly:
A great concept that is long over due. The recreational aspects of the barrier are well documented in the early planning stages of it's construction. One of the original ideas discussed was to construct the barrier from Clark's Point in New Bedford's South End to the tip of Wilbur's Point in Fairhaven. This would have enclosed more of the outer harbor including the narrow peninsula of Sconticutneck (which may have required a sea wall on the east side as well.) Some of the factors going against this concept may have included the cost of construction in deeper water, the topography of the sea floor and the over all property value that would have been protected. Al least two debates perpetuate today. Could the barrier increase a tidal surge to Sconticut Neck in a hurricane? (some studies have shown vague results) Would this project ever have gotten off the ground today enclosing an entire harbor with the invasive disturbance to the wetlands and coastal environment? With the strict environmental laws now in place that were virtually non-existent in the early 60's.this idea would have been laughed at. It is also historically important to note that The Standard-Times and it's top officials were one of the key supporters of the barrier's construction through a series of editorials and direct involvement in the planning committees. At the time (1957) New Bedford's factories and business were exhausted from a series of 3 major hurricanes in less than 16 years.

(Above: NASA Landsat 5 image taken June 5th)
.

Last Week’s Tornado Event Had
Something in Store for SouthCoast

MLBaron westislandweather.com

WEST ISLAND: By now we all know what happened in Springfield and its surrounding towns. This once in a lifetime severe weather outbreak of 3 tornadoes in Massachusetts, one of which left an astounding half mile wide path of destruction 39 miles long brought back memories of the deadly Worcester tornado outbreak of 1953. Debris from that storm fell from the sky dozens of miles away, including a frozen mattress and some books found floating in Boston Harbor. In last week’s tornado some debris was tossed upwards 30,000 ft before falling back to earth. A gas station slip from Brimfield was found 80 miles away in Weymouth. Locally, down bursts or sudden blasts of destructive strong wind are often misreported as a tornado. Although they may appear similar at first- both have a different damage pattern left by the wind. A down burst in general tends to have a central “crater” with debris jutting out from it’s center, versus a tornado having a defined swirling path into it’s center Both typically evolve from intense thunderstorms. Most weather instruments, especially anemometers (that measure wind speed) do not survive the extreme wind speeds created by tornadoes. That’s were SDA or Storm Damage Assessment comes to play. It’s sort of the CSI for meteorologists who examine where and how structures failed, width of tree trunks snapped and the impact of building materials, vehicles, and common household items that become missiles. After all the data is collected the wind speed is estimated.

(Above) Lightning strikes the evening of June 1st, 2011
Southeastern MA was finally placed in a tornado watch late in the afternoon (last Wednesday) as newly formed cells progressed eastward.

A cluster of strong storms formed off Long Island and headed directly east towards Block Island and Buzzards Bay. The cooling effect of the 64 degree water caused the cluster of thunderstorms to lose it’s punch. Only a few sprinkles and rumbles of thunder about 830PM could be heard out in the distance as the remnants passed through uneventfully.

This was in sharp contrast to the devastation wrought by the same air mass 90 miles away a few hours earlier.

A days weather for June 1st, 2011

WEATHER DATA COMPARISON FOR
WEST ISLAND,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, SPRINGFIELD MA JUN 1

Hi Temp: 73 .........................87
Lo Temp: 59 ........................64
Wind: 11 mph .....................15 mph
Gust: 38 mph ......................160 mph est. F3 Tornado
Rain: . 00 .............................1.31
Humidity: 100% ..................100%
Dew point: 74.5 .................. 74.4
Low Barometer: 29.84......... 29.76
Damaged Buildings: 0.............. 1,000+
Destroyed Buildings: 0.............. 200+
Deaths: 0 ....................................4
Injuries: 0...................................... 200

West Island Weather Station has 3 independent “black-box” recorders that register weather parameters every minute, 24/7.

The National Weather Service link for a complete storm report:http://www.westislandweather.com/Data/Document1.pdf