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On September 16, 1999, Tropical Storm Floyd struck
Connecticut. Danbury was the hardest hit location in the state, receiving 11 inches
of rain in 24 hours - amounting to "500 Year Storm" status. It was,
essentially, a hurricane without the winds. Unfortunately, the timing of the
storm was potentially devastating to the Shoreline Stabilization and Zone 2 Floodplain
Projects, which were installed only a week before the storm. The root systems of the
plants had not developed enough to withstand the force of flood velocity waters, and the
river may have undercut shoreline work
Fortunately, when the waters receded, our worst fears were
not realized and the core of the project withstood the acid test of this storm. The
survival of the project can be attributed to the good work of our project volunteers and
contractors and a good design by our project consultant, who located all of environmental
restoration projects upstream of a "bottleneck" in the River. The
following photos summarize the storm's effect on our project.
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browser. Clicking your "Back" button will return you here.
- The sloughs where the plants were installed
were fully inundated, covered by 10 feet of water that
slowly drained out of the River. By September 19, when the waters receded, it became
clear that a significant number of the new plants survived the storm. At final
count, it was estimated that 50% of the plants survived. However, there was a total
loss of the wetland seed.
Close-up showing some of the surviving shrubs and herbaceous wetland plantings.
The erosion control fabric installed at the
outset helped maintain the integrity of the narrow neck of the drainage slough. As
seen in these photos, the
fabric is intact, as were many of the plants installed in
the netting.
The shoreline stabilization
project survived, including the planting of the willow
tublings on the banks above the tree trunks. In fact, root revetment may have helped
prevent any further undercutting of the shoreline at this location. Although the
sign at the top of the bank needs shoring up, with one exception, all of the signs and
benches withstood the force of the flood.
Close-up showing the
emergence of root wads as the waters receded.
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Last update: March 10, 2001 11:50 PM
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