Memories of '55 flood come flooding back to Seymour resident

By Frank Conroy
Guest columnist

   SEYMOUR - It’s that time of the year again, when we stop to reflect on where we were and what we were doing on that fateful Thursday night of August 18 into the early hours of August 19, 1955.
    Now, we all knew that Hurricane Connie had just deposited a lot of rain and the river was higher than normal and moving along at a rapid pace.
    But like me, some of us just thought that’s not such a bad thing. The rushing waters would clean away the debris along the banks. And besides, that other hurricane, Diane, that the weathermen were talking about had been downgraded by the weather bureau, after losing its strength down in the Carolinas. So we were only going to have scattered thunder showers on Friday.

All hell broke loose
    So much for that prediction. Instead, all hell broke loose. Our beloved town was inundated with the worst flood to hit it in anyone’s memory.
    As the river rose and the warnings came down from as far north as Winsted and Waterbury, our emergency personnel began knocking on doors and telling the people along the river to get out and up onto higher ground.
   The families from Derby Avenue, Pine, Broad, and Bank Streets, from First, Second, and Third Street, were all told to evacuate.
   When Friday morning dawned, no one could believe the devastation they were witnessing. Down on lower Main Street, Tommy Thomas’s hot dog stand, Attruia’s Market, Helen’s Cleaners, Paul’s Lunch, and Foley’s Drug Store were under 10 feet of water.
   On Broad Street, the Dutch Door Inn, the Seymour Auto Co., Max’s Market & Package Store, Wanciak’s Market, and Smey’s Spa were gone, destroyed by the onslaught of the Naugatuck.
Even the steel Broad Street Bridge couldn’t withstand the fury of the river.
    The Seymour Library and all its knowledge were laid to waste, along with W. L. Ward’s Funeral Home.
    Even our high school fell victim to the raging waters. And those in the Union Cemetery were not allowed to rest in peace that terrible night, while up on Main Street, water flooded Hart’s 5 + 10, Carroll’s Cut Rate, Rogol’s, the First National Store, Fulton Market, the Seymour Taxi Stand, Bill’s Package Store, and the Strand Theatre.

Devastating loss
Our industries, located along the river so long ago for its “water power,” were filled with water, mud, and debris that had floated down from up the line.
The financial toll was astronomical, but the emotional loss to so many whose homes, neighborhoods, and livelihoods were interrupted was devastating.

Yet even in this, Seymour’s darkest hour, we came together to help each other. The Russian Hall, the Concordia Hall, the Assembly Hall were all set up as emergency shelters. So many from other areas brought help and hope. We persevered. And we were and are survivors.

Like the proverbial phoenix, we rose, and the only truly irreplaceable loss that Hurricanes Connie and Diane took from us that day were Mrs. Krebbs and Mrs. Walinski, the two ladies who lived on Third Street.
Remember them.


Frank Conroy served as Seymour first selectman from 1981-1983, and served a half-term in 1999 when he took over for John O'Toole.