American Red Cross Museum

A Look Back at Hurricane Preparedness

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Part III: The 1950s and the Decade of Disaster
During the "Atomic Age," America reached new heights of prosperity brought on by the post-war rise of business and industry. The population grew rapidly as a result of the "baby boom," and more communities were established along hurricane-vulnerable coastal areas.

From 1949 to 1959, the American Red Cross oversaw approximately 3,100 major relief operations, helping victims of both natural and man-made disasters. This huge increase in relief work caused the era to be dubbed the "Decade of Disaster." Among the more damaging hurricanes that hit the United States during that period were the back to back storms of 1955, Connie and Diane, and Hurricane Audrey in 1957. All three of these hurricanes were so devastating that their names were retired from the rotating list of storm names maintained by the National Hurricane Center.

Hurricanes Connie and Diane
Striking the U.S. mainland only five days apart, Connie and Diane caused severe flooding in the Eastern states. The floods, beginning in Pennsylvania and then moving into New England, swelled some rivers and streams to 40 feet above flood stage, resulting in the deaths of 184 people.

Connie made landfall on the North Carolina coast on August 12, 1955 as a Category 3 hurricane. There were storm surges along the coast and winds of up to 75 miles per hour, with gusts reaching 100 mph. However, the most significant and damaging feature of this hurricane was the 12 inches of rain it brought to the northeastern U.S.

Diane was classified as a hurricane on August 11 and came ashore at North Carolina on August 17 as a Category 1 hurricane. Though the wind damage along the coast was relatively minor when compared to other storms, Diane dropped 10 to 20 inches of rain on areas already soaked by Hurricane Connie.

This double hurricane experience, which made all previous disasters seem like "a dress rehearsal," caused President Eisenhower to urge all Americans to contribute to the Red Cross so that it could "meet this great disaster that has happened to our fellow Americans." At the height of the disaster, the Red Cross was running 131 shelters in six states, with thousands remaining in shelters for as long as a month.

Hurricane Audrey
Hurricane Audrey hit land as a Category 4 storm at the Texas-Louisiana border on June 27. To this day, Audrey remains the earliest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season to reach Category 4 strength. The most dangerous feature of this storm was its 8- to 12-foot storm surge, which affected Louisiana as far as 25 miles inland and caused most of the 390 deaths and damage estimated at $150 million. Audrey remains the earliest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season to reach Category 4 strength.

According to the National Weather Service, the death toll for Hurricane Audrey was high because so few people evacuated Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas. The storm had unexpectedly intensified in strength and accelerated in speed, reaching landfall sooner than anyone had anticipated.

The day after Audrey passed over the coast, Red Cross disaster relief operations swung into full action, feeding, sheltering and providing nursing care to 70,000 storm refugees.

Recent Strides in Community and Personal Preparedness
As hurricane seasons came and went over the decades, the American Red Cross began to move its preparedness advocacy from the chapter and community level to the individual household in particular.

In 1989, the Red Cross published a free, 128-page emergency booklet, Expect the Unexpected: How to prepare Your Family for Times of Emergency. The booklet was distributed by Maxwell House Coffee.

Along with local officials, the Red Cross in the late 1980s and early 1990s began promoting steps that would "mitigate" the damage caused by hurricanes and other disasters. These mitigation measures included practical suggestions like:

Trimming tree limbs
Installing hurricane shutters
Securing potential projectiles
Reinforcing garage doors

Much of the momentum behind mitigation and preparedness programs emanated from the soaring costs of providing disaster relief, repairing infrastructure, and rebuilding. In addition to this, there were many communities where disaster relief was repeatedly needed. By carrying out long-range mitigation plans like elevating or moving homes and businesses in flood-prone areas, communities could break the cycle of constantly having to rebuild after recurring disasters.

Today, the American Red Cross continues to re-evaluate how it responds to hurricanes and other disasters, both large and small. The Red Cross is committed to providing those affected by disasters with quality services delivered with consistency and compassion. A Red Cross training program document puts it best: "Time spent in disaster response planning means time saved when a disaster occurs."

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A Red Cross volunteer joins a family for a meal at one of the hurricane shelters, 1955.

Ruined crops battered homes and water-filled streets and highways were a common sight after Hurricanes Connie and Diane came through in 1955.

Tent headquarters for the Creole Area, where AFL-CIO union volunteers worked with the American Red Cross to build 22 homes for Hurricane Audrey Victims. Cameron Parish, LA, 1957.

Red Cross volunteers help to answer some of the thousands of telegrams of inquiry from family members impacted by Hurricane Audrey. More than 7,000 wires were received and transmitted. Disaster headquarters, Lake Charles, LA, June 1957.

However severe or frequent the storms this season, their toll of deaths and injuries probably will be low.

There's been no taming of the big winds. Their fierceness and death-dealing potential are equal to that of the South Florida storm of 1926 that killed over 300 and injured 6,300 and that of the 1928 hurricane, in which 1,800 people were drowned or otherwise killed, mostly in the Lake Okeechobee area of South Florida.

The answer to the present low casualty rate can be found in a word that most communities in hurricane-prone areas have been taking seriously in recent years—preparedness. Preparedness has meant building codes calling for studier construction, U.S. Weather Bureau warning services second to none, hurricane safety education in the newspapers and over the radio, sound operational plans, and enough volunteers in Red Cross chapters for hurricane emergency relief.

The Red Cross Magazine, September 1951

Part I: The Clara Barton Era
In the face of modern day hurricane seasons, we seldom take time to reflect how far we have come in our ability to predict and prepare for the worst. In the early years of the American Red Cross, there was no government system or agency in charge of disaster preparedness and relief, (FEMA would not be established until 1979) evacuation plans were unheard of, electronic communications such as telephones and telegraphs and storm forecasting were inconsistent and still in their infancy.
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Part II: The 1920s and the Rise of the Red Cross Chapter
Following World War I, the American Red Cross experienced extraordinary growth among its chapters nationwide. From a total of only 107 chapters in 1914, the number leaped to its all-time peak of 3,864 in 1918.
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