Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-08


That vile and treacherous
monster, Carol. the killer hurri-
cane, left Rhode Island raging
at what has been branded Q
breakdown in the weather-&arn-
ing system.
The tiniest State and her
neighbor, Massachusetts,. were
hardest hit by, last weeks huge
storm. Rhode Islanders are grim
Tipped over the short time they
had between the Here 1t
comes!" and Here it isl"
Reports from Newport say
Carol Numbered in there with
out warning-that almost up to
: the minute Carol crashed inland
from the Atlantic, the Coast
Guard was still issuing assur-
ances the gale force would hot
exceed go miles an hour.
Senator Green, Rhode Island
Democrat, has demanded q full
investigation of what made Carol
q surprise.
Until the results are in. it Is
difficult to blame a specific group
for the lack of notice. But at
this stage it appears somewhat
unfair to point the finger at the
Weather Bureau.
Changed Pace.
Carol pulled an unpredictable
change of pace, said I. r. Tame
hill, assistant Weather Bureau
chief, in charge of operations.
At IL PM, EST, Monday.
August 80, the storm was moving
at about 20 miles an hour.
During the night, she sped up to
around SO miles an hour. The
additional forward speed added
to the velocity Of her whirling
winds, making her that much
more vicious.
1--WE were caught with fast
moving storm, at night, and
there wasn't much time to get
anything out on It," Mr.. Tame
hill said.
"You can't reach many people
at night. They're asleep. If we
had been sure it was moving that
fast we would have stepped up
the speed figure in our advisory"
A hurricane whirls counter
clockwise. It's strength Is
heaviest on the side blowing in
the 6-5-4-3-2-1-12 directio n.
That's the side accelerated by
the speed of the storms forward
motion.
To rate as a hurricane, q
storm wind must be whirling at
least IS miles an hour. Add SO
miles to that, and the force is
tremendous.
Weaker on Other Side.
On the hurricanes other
side, from IL through II, 10. and
so on, to 6. the 75-m.p.h. winds
are colliding with the forward
velocity, rendering that side SO
much weaker.
The under estimation of Car
OILS power was a tragedy.
Perhaps if airplanes had been
sent into Carols EYE" at more
frequent intervals, her enorrnity
might better have been gagged.
But I'm not going to blame
those men who fly into the mid
die of hurricanes" Mr.. Tame
hill said. "They can have that
job. It's all theirs"
It was not possible to say be-
fore hand precisely where Carol
would leave the sea for the
land. She crashed ashore a bit
farther east than expected.
Trackers expected her to take
o bigger bite of Long Island. If
she had, land obstacles would
have drained much of her terrible
might. Long Island would have
been clobbered. instead of Rhode
Island.
Hit With Full Power.
But the hurricanes center
passed over Montauk Point, Long
Islands tip. Carols widest
winds were over water, unslowed
by land contact. She still had
full steam when she hit Rhode
Island, instead of being shrunken
to a 60-mile whirler.
In his Office at Twenty fourth
and M streets NV. yesterday
Mr.. Tannehill did not seem re-
sentful over Rhode Island 6
denunciation of weatherrnen. He
has been through similar trials
before.
you never get credit for the