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Below- German Newspaper coverage of the 1955 Flood in Southbridge, shortly
after the devasation occurred.
Thanks to Todd Robida for supplying this to me.
Translation of German Text: "Flood disaster in North America
One of the most terrible flood water disasters devastated large
areas of the northeastern coastal areas of the Unites States. More than
one hundred thousand people lost their homes, twenty thousand lost their
jobs. The damage is estimated to be at twelve billion Marks. The picture
shows a washed away house in Southbridge, Massachusetts."
Check out this amazing Audio clip from that day!
AO Retiree and close family friend Bob
Haynes, taped the WESO Radio Broadcast of the 1955 Flood.
Download
Zip file here of WESO Radio Broadcast.
This audio file is in wav format
and has been zipped to 1/2 of the 1MB file size. It contains a dramatic
segment where evacuation routes are being given and the siren in the center
of Southbridge can be heard in the background.
A rare view of the 1955 Flood in progress. This photo was taken from
the North end of the AO Main Plant (now Southbridge Hotel and Confernence
Center). Note the AO North St.Guard
shack on the lower right. The Hampden Ale (Petes Cafe) Sign on the
building behind the black car is on the building that is now Panda Garden.
For a view from Mechanic Street after the
flood subsided, click here. Note the Hampden Ale sign in that photo
as well.
Photo courtesy of Jim Houghton
Click here for "Then
and Now" views
Don Whitney's 1955 Flood Slide Collection
Bill Kroll's amazing '55 Flood Globe Village photos
Don Croke recalls his floating TV
Russell St. Laurent recalls the 1955 Flood on Mechanic St.
Sample of donated Photos to Jacob Edwards Library by Robert Herbert
Should you be interested in reading (or contributing to) Flood Recollections, Click Here!
1955 Flood Photos 
(Above Left AO Main Plant along Mechanic Street, Above Right Main Plant
on Right as viewed from Lens Street)
Alphonse Mominee and Family
Collection
The National Guard on watch in front of the AO Main Plant after the
Flood
of 1955. Does anyone recognize the boy on crutches???
Please e-mail me with details
Statistics about the
1955 Flood as printed in the Southbridge Evening News
as it appeared in
Aug 31, 1955
Aug 1999 photo of me standing by the Flood level marks on the old AO
Main plant (now the Southbridge Hotel).
The top marks show the water level for the August 19, 1955 Flood.
The second level is that of the 1938 Flood (Sept 21st).
The remaining are for the March 19, 1936 and March 12 1936 Flood levels
(bottom)
Dick
Whitney with Mish Michaels (WBZ TV Meteorologist) on Nov 5, 2005 at the
Clay Center in Brookline
This was shortly before her presentation on the 50th Anniversary of
Hurricanes Connie and Diane, where she included details of the devastation
in Southbridge on Aug 19, 1955
Mish's new website (July 30, 2009)
On this site are photos of the 1955 and 1938 Floods. Be sure to read below these Floods.
More Information on the Flood of 1955
Flood Control History After the 1955 Flood
Dick Whitney July 30, 2009
