Hurricane Connie

Hurricane Connie

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Connie west of Cape Hatteras
Formed	August 3, 1955
Dissipated	August 15, 1955
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 140 mph (220 km/h)
Lowest pressure	944 mbar (hPa); 27.88 inHg
Fatalities	74 total
Damage	At least $86 million (1955 USD)
Areas affected	Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Mid-Atlantic states, New England, Canada
Part of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Connie in August 1955 contributed to significant flooding across the eastern United States, just days before Hurricane Diane affected the same general area. Connie formed on August 3 from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It moved quickly west-northwestward, strengthening into a well-developed hurricane by August 5. Initially, it posed a threat to the Lesser Antilles, although it passed about 50 mi (80 km) north of the region. The outer rainbands produced hurricane-force wind gusts and intense precipitation, reaching 8.65 in (220 mm) in Puerto Rico. In the United States Virgin Islands, three people died due to the hurricane, and a few homes were destroyed. In Puerto Rico, Connie destroyed 60 homes and caused crop damage. After affecting Puerto Rico, Connie turned to the northwest, reaching peak winds of 140 mph (220 km/h). The hurricane weakened while slowing and turning to the north, and struck North Carolina on August 12 at Category 2 intensity, the first of three damaging tropical cyclones in the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season to hit the state.

Ahead of the storm, the United States Weather Bureau issued widespread hurricane warnings, resulting in 14,000 people evacuating southeastern North Carolina. Connie produced strong winds, high tides, and heavy rainfall as it moved ashore, causing heavy crop damage and 27 deaths in the state. Connie tracked roughly along the eastern coast of Virginia before turning northwest, and it progressed inland until dissipating on August 15 near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Four people were killed in Washington, D.C. due to a traffic accident. In Chesapeake Bay, Connie capsized a boat, killing 14 people and prompting a change in Coast Guard regulation. There were six deaths each in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and eleven deaths in New York, where record rainfall flooded homes and subways. At least 225,000 people lost power during the storm. Damage in the United States totaled around $86 million, although the rains from Connie contributed to flooding from Hurricane Diane that caused $700 million in damage. The remnants of Connie destroyed a few houses and boats in Ontario and killed three people in Ontario.