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HYANNIS – Hurricane Bob barreled up the Atlantic seaboard 25 years ago this week, leaving a swath of destruction across Cape Cod, the Islands and much of southern New England.
A quarter century later, it remains the last hurricane to make landfall in Massachusetts, perhaps lulling some into a sense of false security that a storm of that magnitude was a one-time event.
But weather experts and emergency managers say it’s likely just a matter of time before a similar storm wreaks havoc again on Cape Cod.
Bob was just an area of low pressure near the Bahamas on August 16, 1991.
But the depression would rapidly intensify. Just three days later, it slammed into the Rhode Island coast before crossing Massachusetts.
Cape Cod was in the northeast quadrant, the worst part of a hurricane for wind and related damage.
According to the National Weather Service, Bob curved north-northwestward as a tropical storm as it departed the Bahamas, but then recurved to the north-northeast before blowing up into a hurricane on August 17.
The storm brushed by the Outer Banks of North Carolina on August 18 and made a bee-line for New England, arriving the next day. It strengthened to a Category 3 storm before weakening slightly as it arrived in New England.
PHOTO COURTESY: National Weather Service
Experts said the track of Bob was similar to that of Hurricanes Carol and Edna in 1954, both of which also delivered blows to New England.
Bob made two landfalls in New England, first on Block Island, Rhode Island, then in Newport, Rhode Island. At the time it was a category 2 storm, racing up the coast at 32 miles an hour.
The hurricane cut across Massachusetts, with the eye passing between Scituate and Boston, before moving into Massachusetts Bay. The storm finally dissipated off the coast of Portugal on August 29.
Many residents have been sharing their memories of the storm with the CapeCod.com NewsCenter this week.
Susan Gable of Mashpee said some of her most vivid memories involve not having power for a week.
“Mashpee didn’t have town water at the time. We all had wells with electric pumps, so no running water. We would drive a half mile to the pond every morning to get a few buckets of water to use for flushing toilets. In the evenings, whole families would gather on the beach with bars of soap,” she said.
Boat owners gather their belongings, Aug. 20, 1991 in Dartmouth, Mass., after Hurricane Bob swept through southern Massachusetts. The area was closed to the public allowing boat owners to locate and salvage damaged property. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“The main thing I remember post storm are the bees that were flying everywhere. Their nests had been disturbed in the downed trees and in the ground, so they had nowhere to go, and people were getting stung just standing around, for weeks after the storm. I also remember all the windows being covered with a film of finely chopped green leaves,” wrote Nancy Mumford of Marstons Mills.
Despite it’s quick arrival and exit, Bob left a trail of destruction in the region that included smashed boats and homes and heavily damaged electric lines.
Ann Sullivan of South Yarmouth said her family rode out of the storm inland, and didn’t realize the scope of destruction until they arrived home.
“I remember the hotel I was working at had to close because of significant damage to the roof and erosion beneath. I remember going a long time without power, my mother frantically cooking and us eating everything that would go bad, and heading back to my grandmother’s later that week for a much needed shower.
I remember our excited cheers when we finally saw utility trucks on our street! I remember experiencing a very early fall with leaves turning brown and falling off the trees and feeling a little sad until realizing we were getting a bonus spring with new leaves budding,” she wrote to the CapeCod.com NewsCenter.
According to the National Weather Service, peak wind gusts of 125 mph were recorded in Brewster and Truro. The highest sustained wind was 100 mph in North Truro.
In addition to the wind, Bob drove a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet into Buzzards Bay, according to the weather service.
In the wake of the storm, many people went searching for something to do as power outages lingered for days.
“I remember being out of power and out of work for a week in Brewster. I also remember going to the movies in South Dennis because they had power. Watched Regarding Henry starring Harrison Ford,” wrote Kevin Keating on the CapeCod.com Facebook page.
The destruction on Cape Cod wasn’t limited to boats and homes along the immediate coast.
“We watched the roof of the Admiralty Apartments on Scranton Ave. in Falmouth peel off like a tuna can! It was terrifying. I never want to go through that again,” wrote Bonnie Papineau on Facebook.
Many Cape Codders did their best to come together in the wake of Bob.
“We were evacuated from the Mayflower Beach area to the middle school. Everyone was great. All the kids played games and the Red Cross supplied food. The Town of Dennis responded appropriately. No power for at least a week,” wrote Maribeth Wallace-Hall of Dennis.
Sections of Wareham, Onset and Buzzards Bay were especially hard hit with surges of 12 to 15 feet.
The National Weather Service said some beaches along Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket lost up to 50 feet due to erosion. At one point, all of Cape Cod was without electricity.
While Rhode Island was inundated by rain, Cape Cod saw less than an inch throughout the duration of the storm.
New England regional FEMA chief Ed Thomas, right, talks with Frank and Mary Mahady, Sept. 25, 1991 of Mattapoisett, Mass., whose home, seen intact in far background, survived Hurricane Bob because it was built to be hurricane-resistant. Federal officials are trying to convince people rebuilding structures to follow hurricane-resistant construction plans. (AP Photo/Stephen Rose)
CapeCod.com weatherman Dave Read remembered covering the storm while on-air at WQRC-FM. He said while there was little rain, the winds left a lasting impact.
“The wind blew an awful lot of salt spray across the trees and other vegetation. We had a huge brownout for a couple of months. Things were just dead like fall, even though it was August. It took a long time for those trees to recover,” he said.
After spending days at the radio station working around the clock, Read said he was finally able to head home, but still had to dodge trees left lying across streets.
“When I finally did get home, our power was off too for a few days. And since we have a well, that meant no water for us. That meant going down to the pond to bring home buckets of water and help flush the toilets and just deal with life at home,” said Read.
He said the lack of electricity was a real burden for many of the radio station’s listeners, who would repeatedly call, asking when their power might return.
The damage from Hurricane Bob totaled more than $1.5 billion across the region. 17 people along the Eastern seaboard died as a result of the storm.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com News Director
Material from the National Weather Service was used in this report
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