On August 10, 1955, a cyclonic
circulation was noted northeast of the Leeward Islands with tropical storm
force winds. On August 17, Diane struck near Wilmington, North Carolina. Floods
in New England led to Diane becoming the first hurricane with $1 billion in
damages with about 200 people losing their lives in the flood from Pennsylvania
through New England. At a creek near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, fifty people drowned when they were unable to
escape the rising water. Compounding the problem was the fact
that Diane was, and still remains, the wettest tropical cyclone on record for the
Northeast.
Contributed by Tricia LaFrance
