Hurricanes Carol and Edna: New England's Twin Tempests of 1954

New England has had more than its fair share of powerful hurricanes cross its path over the centuries. From as far back as the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 to Hurricane Bob in 1991, these forces of nature have scarred and reshaped the region's landscape.

The only saving grace when it comes to such vicious tempests is the fact that they are few and far between. This gives the region ample time to restore and rebuild.

What if that wasn’t the case though? What if a powerful hurricane was nearly immediately followed by another? No, it is not a plot for a new disaster movie. It is something that actually happened in New England. 70 years ago those fears became reality.

This is the story of Hurricane Carol and Hurricane Edna, the twin tempests of 1954.

Busy Atlantic hurricane seasons are common. The years leading up to 1954 were no different. New England had seen a few major storms rampage across the region in the previous few decades.

The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was a Category 3 that rumbled through the region in September 1938. It carried sustained winds as high as 121mph at Blue Hill in Massachusetts. Blue Hill also recorded the highest wind gust at a whopping 186mph.

The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 was weaker but still extremely dangerous as a strong Category 1 storm. It steamrolled over the east coast in September 1944.

Damage in West Yarmouth, MA after the 1944 hurricane(Public Domain).

After the 1944 storm, the Atlantic waters were relatively quiet. No hurricanes or even tropical storms made landfall in New England. There were still dangerous hurricanes that struck the United States in general. These included Hurricanes Easy(Category 3) and King(Category 4) which devastated Florida within 6 weeks of each other in 1950. There was also Hurricane Able(Category 2) which plowed into Georgia in 1952(and yes it is spelled Able, not Abel).

For the New England region though the decade of relative quiet was quite literally the calm before the storm.

A typical hurricane season runs from June through November with August through October being the peak for development. The Atlantic Hurricane season of 1954 began rather benignly with an unspectacular unnamed tropical storm forming in the last week of May. The first hurricane (Alice) was a Category 2 that struck Texas during the last week of June.

The fact that the first 3 tropical storms had passed only a few hundred miles off of the New England coast was an ominous sign for the second half of the season. The last week of August proved to be the start of something unprecedented.

Hurricane Carol: The First Blow

Hurricane Carol was the first major hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. It originated near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and was the third named storm of the season after Alice and Barbara.

Carol rapidly intensified as it moved northward becoming a hurricane on August 27^th. It eventually reached Category 3 status with winds exceeding 120 mph as it passed North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The storm ran parallel to the East Coast eventually making landfall first on Long Island and then in the area around Old Saybrook, Connecticut on August 31.

Beached boats after Carol in Marblehead, MA(Samuel Chamberlain)

The impact on New England was massive. This included wiping out nearly half of the apple, corn, peach, and tomato crops along the southern coast. The hurricane's powerful winds and heavy rainfall caused widespread devastation. More than 3,000 boats and 3,000 automobiles were destroyed in the storm with more than 150,000 people being left without power.

In total Carol claimed 65 lives and caused over $460 million in damage (about $5.4 billion in 2024). More than 150,000 homes and businesses were destroyed or severely damaged. The storm uprooted trees, downed power lines, and disrupted transportation networks. Coastal areas suffered severe erosion, and many boats and ships were damaged or sunk.

WBZ-TV tower in Brighton, MA crushing an automobile.(George Dixon)

Making landfall just after high tide Carol caused massive flooding. New Bedford, Massachusetts saw a storm surge of over 14 feet. The highest recorded wind gust was on Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island. There the wind reached 135mph. More than 20,000 people evacuated Cape Cod ahead of Carol. Even up into Canada’s Quebec province damage from Carol topped $1 million CAD($11.68 million US/$16.07 million CAD in 2024).

The Red Cross Civil Defense team was on hand immediately after gathering the data used above. It would take months, perhaps in some cases years, to fully recover from Hurricane Carol. Unfortunately, New England had less than two weeks of calm.

Hurricane Edna: The Second Strike

On September 2^nd, a mere 24 hours after the remnants of Hurricane Carol passed north into the Arctic Ocean, a new storm was forming. Hurricane Edna formed east of Barbados.

Carol had traveled parallel to the United States east coast, and Edna traveled parallel to Carol’s path just slightly more eastward. Edna rapidly gained strength, becoming a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 125 mph by September 8^th.

How would New England prepare for a second powerful hurricane in a matter of weeks? At first, there was thought they wouldn’t have to. Some forecasters in New England weather offices were putting out a theory as late as September 9^th that Hurricane Edna would drift in the Atlantic before ultimately fizzling out. The hundreds of thousands of New Englanders still cleaning up Carol’s mess, some still without power, hoped that to be the case. Sadly, it was not.

Boston Globe, September 11, 1954

When it slammed into New England in the morning on September 11, 1954, Hurricane Edna compounded the devastation left by Carol, affecting much of the same areas still recovering.

The eye of the storm passed near Martha’s Vineyard bringing a brief eerie calm to Cape Cod. When it ramped back up Edna ended up being strong, but not as strong as Carol. A small bit of luck had Edna not making landfall at the time of high tide, sparing some weary coastal areas from a true double-dip of damage.

Though slightly less catastrophic Edna still packed a punch. Edna brought torrential rain, leading to severe flooding in many areas. Rivers and streams overflowed, inundating homes and businesses. The top wind gust of 120mph occurred on Martha’s Vineyard close to the eye of the storm. Many homes, businesses, and boats damaged by Carol were finished off by Edna.

Edna resulted in 20 fatalities and caused an estimated $42 million in damage (about $419 million in 2024). While the storm's damage was less severe than Carol’s, it added to the cumulative impact on New England’s infrastructure and economy. Though not as severe as Carol in Southern New England, Edna would end up being the costliest hurricane in the history of Maine. President Dwight Eisenhower called parts of the state a ‘disaster area.’

The Red Cross returned to the area while thousands of telephone and electrical workers poured into the affected towns to get amenities back up and running. According to New England Telephone & Telegraph, more than 260,000 homes were left without telephone service after Edna. This was actually 10,000 more homes than Hurricane Carol.

The back-to-back hurricanes of 1954 left a profound mark on New England. Carol and Edna caused extensive damage to the fishing industry, with numerous boats destroyed and fishing infrastructure damaged. The tourism sector also suffered. Summer ostensibly came to an end with the approach of Carol as people fled. Any hope of a return of summer after was dashed with many summer homes and tourist facilities being damaged or destroyed.

The combined storm surges and heavy rainfall led to severe beach erosion and changes in coastal landscapes. Carol and Edna highlighted the need for better disaster preparedness and response mechanisms. Communities in New England, including those on Cape Cod where 95% had been without power during Edna, invested in improved infrastructure. This included stronger seawalls and better drainage systems, to mitigate the impact of future storms.

The names of both storms, Carol and Edna, were retired from tropical naming. A bit of good that came from the 1954 storms was the United States government devoting research to start the National Hurricane Research Project. This later became known as the National Hurricane Research Laboratory and is a permanent institution within the Weather Bureau.

In the 70 years since the double header of Hurricanes Carol and Edna things have been relatively quiet on the storm front in New England.

Hurricane Donna in 1960 was a strong Category 1 when it made landfall in Connecticut, even reaching a peak wind gust of 140mph at the Blue Hill Observatory.

Hurricane Gloria in 1985 was also a Category 1 storm when it hit New England. Rehoboth, Massachusetts reported a tornado and a wind gust of 120mph.

Hurricane Bob in 1991 was a Category 2 when it made landfall in Rhode Island. This storm has been the closest in terms of strength in New England since Hurricane Carol.

Hurricane Bob's track in 1991(NWS Boston)

Besides an array of near-misses and weaker tropical disturbances, it has been few and far between when it comes to hurricanes in New England. This fact only amplifies how unique and deadly the twin storms of 1954 were. Lives were lost, property was destroyed, and parts of the environment were permanently changed.

Thankfully events like major hurricanes striking so closely after one another are a part of the ‘once every hundred years’ occurrences. Though as it has been 70 years since Carol and Edna the ‘hundred years’ continues to draw closer.