This stark and solemn marker remembers August 19, 1955 — the day the Still River and Mad River rampaged through Winsted and killed eight people. Across the state, eighty-seven perished from the flood. The freak flood resulted from the combination of hurricanes Connie and Diane which ripped through the state and dumped between 13 and 20 inches of rain in a 2-day period. The resulting flood is still the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Connecticut. The marker is located in the town green where Main Street(Route 44) intersects with Park Place(Route 8). The green is a busy place, with all sorts of other markers, monuments, and memorials everywhere. It was dedicated by the Winsted Chamber of Commerce one year after the flood — on August 19, 1956.
