The Flood of 1955, April 2020

Within the span of a week, two hurricanes pummeled New England. After days of a torrential downpour, the flooded Quinebaug River completely eviscerated my hometown of Putnam Connecticut. For my final project, I want to animate my grandmother and grandfather’s story of the great flood. My grandmother, 22 at the time, had just graduated from the state university and moved back into her childhood home. She was engaged to my grandfather who was a year younger and home for the summer. She lived out on a farm in East Putnam while my grandfather lived downtown near the river bank. My grandmother weathered the storm at home. She played cards with her sisters and worked on knitting a sweater for my grandfather. Meanwhile, the floodwaters completely surrounded the street where my grandfather lived. He, his family, and his neighbors were trapped on an island next to a magnesium plant. When magnesium is exposed to water, it explodes. Over the next four days, barrels of magnesium were washed from the plant, causing explosions down the river. The people trapped on this island feared the whole plant would explode, obliterating all of the houses on the street. My grandmother did not hear from my grandfather for four days. During that time, she completed the sweater. On the fourth day, fire trucks from the west side of town were able to extend their ladder across the river to the island. My grandfather and his family were able to climb to the west bank. In the days that followed as the waters ebbed, the town was shrouded in the sand and left in ruins.