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Hurricane Edna

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This article is about the 1954 hurricane; there were also storms named Edna during the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season and the 1968 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Edna
Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
FormedSeptember 2, 1954
DissipatedSeptember 15, 1954
Highest winds1-minute sustained: 120 mph (195 km/h)
Lowest pressure≤ 954 mbar (hPa); 28.17 inHg
Fatalities20 direct, 9 indirect
Damage$40 million (1954 USD)
Areas affectedNorth Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Atlantic Canada
Part of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Edna was a Category 3 hurricane that moved along the east coast before striking the New England region of the United States in mid-September of 1954.

Storm history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

Edna formed off of Barbados on September 2. Moving northwestward and slowly strengthening, Edna followed the shape of the Caribbean islands, never moving more than 100 miles away from land. Edna reached hurricane strength on September 7, reaching Category 3 strength by the time it took aim at North Carolina's Outer Banks on September 10. Edna raked the Outer Banks, which had already been devastated by Hurricane Carol less than a month earlier. Fortunately, Edna's strongest winds were too far offshore to affect the battered area. The hurricane weakened slightly as it moved north over cooler waters. Before striking New England, its eye actually split into two different ones, up to 60 miles apart. It then moved over Cape Cod before finally making landfall near Eastport, Maine on September 11, with sustained winds of around 92 mph. Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts reported a peak wind gust of 120 mph during Edna, and much of the rest of the affected area had gusts of 80 to 100 mph.[1] [2]

Impact

Edna was one of Maine's worst hurricanes, yet this storm could have been much worse. Carol hit Long Island directly as a Category 2, while Edna hit a less densely populated part of New England and was weaker. As it was, Edna still killed 29 people and caused $40.5 million in damage. For the citizens of Maine, it was a painful reminder that they were not immune from the dangers of hurricanes. The state would have the occasional hurricane brush by in the years to come, but none of them (with the possible exception of Gerda in 1969) were as destructive as Edna.

Eight people died due to drowning in Maine. In Unity, a family of 10 was trapped on top of their car, cut off by raging flood waters. A human chain of rescuers managed to save 9 of them. One 8 year old girl was swept away as her father lost his grip on the child when a house smashed into the guard rail. A 47 year old man was also swept away as he was trying to rescue the family. In all, a total of 29 people died in the storm, 12 people in New England, and 8 of those were in Maine.

In New York City, around 5 inches (127 mm) of rain fell in the space of 14 hours.[3]

Edna affected New-Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in Canada, after Maine. Its winds causing great damage and a few deaths[4].

Though Edna's storm center was nowhere near Nova Scotia, the storm's damaging winds occurred out to approximately 500 km from the storm center track, destroying approximately 0.7 billion board feet of timber across Nova Scotia.[5].

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricane names

The name Edna was eventually retired due to this storm, but only after it had been used again in the 1968 season. It will never be used for an Atlantic hurricane again.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Hurricane History - Carol and Edna 1954". National Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  2. ^ WILLIAM MALKIN AND GEORGE C. HOLZWORTH (1954). "September 1954 Monthly Weather Review" (PDF). NOAA. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  3. ^ Addison Whipple (1982). Storm. Alexandria Virginia: Time Life Books. p. 102. ISBN=0-8094-4312-1. {{cite book}}: Missing pipe in: |id= (help)
  4. ^ "Storms of 1954". Canadian Hurricane Center. 202-05-07. Retrieved 2007-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "A Comparison of the Wind Fields in Hurricane Edna (1954) and Hurricane Juan (2003)" (PDF). Canadian Hurricane Center. Retrieved 2007-09-12.

See also

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