Hurricane Carol hit the northeastern United States in 1954.

The wind she’s blowing hard for an hour and a half now. Wind indicates east sixty-five with gusts to seventy at twenty-three minutes after ten AM. The whole airplane is wiggling. Never saw anything like this. Think I will never forget it.

—Mike Snyder, eyewitness to Hurricane Carol, in a letter to his father

One of the most devastating hurricanes to hit New England, Hurricane Carol resulted in nearly 70 deaths and millions of dollars in damage. Moving at over 35 miles per hour when it hit land, Carol had sustained winds of 80 to 100 miles per hour, with peaks up to 135 miles per hour. The storm devastated the eastern half of Connecticut, all of Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts. Some coastal communities in all three states were effectively wiped out by the storm and the resulting floods. More than 12 feet of water flooded Providence, Rhode Island. In all, Hurricane Carol destroyed 4,000 houses, 3,500 automobiles and more than 3,000 boats.

Science NetLinks
 

In Hurricanes 1: The Science of Hurricanes (3–5), students examine different scientific aspects of hurricanes, all in an effort to begin to understand the nature of motion—particularly how changes in speed or direction of motion are caused by forces.

In Hurricanes 2: Tracking Hurricanes (3–5), students’ study of hurricanes is broadened by exploring how technology and science are used today to identify, measure and track powerful tropical storms to better warn and secure people from their often-devastating impact.

The Science Update Hurricanes (6–12) contains information from a scientific report about hurricanes. The years 1995 to 2000 saw more hurricane activity in the North Atlantic than any five-year period on record. According to a new report, it may be just the beginning of a trend that could last for decades.

Xpeditions
The Eye of the Hurricane (3–5) helps students learn about the structure of a hurricane, particularly the eye. Students view a video about hurricanes, conduct a simple hurricane simulation, take a tour into the eye of a hurricane and write reports about their tour.

The Active Earth (3–5) helps students investigate natural disasters by creating a poster showing “The Active Earth.” Students look at examples of weather maps and create a weather map based on current weather conditions.

In Sister Storms: Children of the Tropical Seas (6–8), middle school students explore different kinds of tropical storms throughout the world. They learn about how the storms are different, how they are similar and how they are distributed throughout the world. They study specific storms in detail and create class presentations describing them.

Illuminations
In the vector investigation tool Airplane Storm Chaser, students use vectors to “drive” a plane and catch a hurricane.