The winter season of 1935-1936 in New England was characterized by extremely cold temperatures and relentless snowstorms that resulted in a deep snowpack across the countryside which translated to the equivalent of 7.5 inches of water. During a typical transition from winter to spring, the gradual rise in temperatures would have caused a measured release of this moisture from the snowpack into the rivers and streams throughout New England. The meteorological events for the March of 1936 would prove to be atypical in the extreme.
On March 9th a warm front moved into the northeast and then stalled for the next two weeks. The warmer temperatures catalyzed the rapid melting of the deep snow that had accumulated during that winter. Rivers that were frozen all winter began to rapidly thaw producing destructive ice floes that damaged dams and bridges. The rivers throughout the region became swollen with the excess water from the snowmelt flowing downhill from higher elevations. On March 11th a low pressure system ushered in extremely heavy rainfall compounding the effects of the rapidly melting snow. The heavy rains would continue for two more days.
On March 13th the Shetucket and Yantic Rivers began to breach their banks. Within a few hours water the depth of eight to ten feet filled the basements of homes and businesses near the Shetucket River in Norwich. By seven o’clock that evening the flooding of the city’s electrical plant on North Main Street prompted the shutdown of its generating turbines leaving city residents without electricity. The loss of power prompted the Norwich Bulletin to make arrangements to temporarily move its staff to offices of the Westerly Sun and use their printing facilities to publish the daily newspaper. The Palace Theatre was inundated by flood water submerging 1,000 seats while the fire station on Chestnut Street attempted to pump out nearly five feet of water from its main building. In Taftville the J.B. Martin Velvet Mill and the Ponemah Mill No. 4 were both completely surrounded by water and unable to operate. During the next 24 hours the rain slowly abated and the flood waters began to recede. But the worst was yet to come.
On Wednesday March 18th a second more powerful low pressure system producing extremely heavy rainfall began to pummel New England. Just after midnight on March 19th the Shetucket River was rising at a rate of one foot per hour. The Yantic River also began overflowing its banks. The following day, dams north of the Shetucket began to weaken and collapse compounding the extensive flooding in Norwich and the surrounding area. During a 48-hour period the Norwich Fire Department engaged in the herculean task of pumping over 2.5 million gallons water out of the basements of businesses and homes.
When the rains finally ceased on March 21st, the final tally of the total destruction wrought on New England during the two-week period amounted to approximately 150 deaths with property damage totaling nearly 100 million dollars. Its estimated that the entire northeast had received over ten inches of rain during that time period.
To view historical photographs documenting the flooding of downtown Norwich in 1936 visit the Otis Library website.