page_title: Hurricane Connie
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Connie / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Storm total rainfall map of Hurricane Connie during August 1955.
context_page_description: Hurricane Connie was a Category 4 hurricane that contributed to significant flooding across the eastern United States in August 1955, 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 hurricane by August 4. Connie first posed a threat to the Lesser Antilles, ultimately passing about 105 mi north of the island group. In the United States Virgin Islands, three people died due to the hurricane, and a few homes were destroyed. The outer rainbands produced hurricane-force wind gusts and intense precipitation, reaching 8.65 in in Puerto Rico. On the island, Connie destroyed 60 homes and caused crop damage. After affecting Puerto Rico, Connie reached maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, and a barometric pressure of 944 mbar, as observed by the Hurricane Hunters on August 7. The hurricane later weakened, slowed its forward motion, and turned to the north, striking North Carolina on August 12 as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
context_section_description: On August 5, Hurricane Connie began to become an apparent threat to the northeastern Caribbean Islands, with maximum winds in the storm reaching 125 mph (205 km/h). The National Weather Bureau issued hurricane warnings for Barbuda, Saba and Antigua. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were placed on hurricane alert as warnings were possible later that day. Along the northern coast of Puerto Rico, the threat of Connie forced 40,000 people to evacuate their homes. After Connie affected Puerto Rico, a storm warning was issued for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, and a hurricane warning was issued for the eastern Bahamas.
  While Connie was meandering in the western Atlantic Ocean, its potential track posed problems for forecasters, due to its slow movement near the southeast United States coastline. On August 7, a hurricane warning was issued from North Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia, with a hurricane alert issued farther north to New York City. The Weather Bureau later extended the hurricane warnings to Delaware Breakwater, with storm warnings farther northeast to Provincetown, Massachusetts. The alert for North Carolina was up for about three days until Connie moved inland.
  Ahead of the storm, the United States military flew its planes away from the coast to safer shelters further inland. Two people were killed when they crashed the Navy plane they were evacuating. Large Naval ships rode out the storm at sea, while smaller vessels anchored in Tangier. More than 100 merchant vessels from a dozen counties anchored in the waters of Hampton Roads, or while small boats were secured at port. The American Red Cross opened at least 79 shelters, and mobilized 41 officials with hurricane experience. The Coast Guard ordered four towns along beaches to evacuate, and overall about 14,000 people evacuated the coastline. About 2,000 people evacuated from flood-prone areas in New Bern, North Carolina. In Philadelphia, the Boy Scouts evacuated 800 scouts from Camp Delmont due to the threat of the hurricane. The threat of Connie also canceled a flight by President Dwight Eisenhower from Gettysburg to Washington, D.C., prompting him to travel instead by car. More than 300 residents evacuated in North Jersey. Beaches were closed in New Jersey and New York. An annual parade in Ocean City, New Jersey was postponed due to the storm. Dozens of flights in and out of the New York area were canceled due to weather conditions. The storm also prompted the Canadian Army to halt military exercises.
caption: Connie rainfall in Puerto Rico
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