Hurricane Bob, 21 years ago today

(WTNH) -- Hurricane Bob slammed portions of the area 21 years ago today, on August 19th, 1991.

Hurricane Warnings were posted by the National Hurricane Center from North Carolina, all the way up to Maine.

The storm brushed the Outer Banks of North Carolina and then proceeded to race up towards New England.

At 10 a.m. on August 19th, 1991, the storm was centered about 100 miles south of the eastern tip of Long Island. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 115 M.P.H. at that time.

Bob grazed Long Island, passed directly over Block Island and made landfall near Newport, R.I. with sustained winds of 100 M.P.H. The peak wind gust in Connecticut was 100 M.P.H. in Groton.

Since the strongest winds were near and west of the center, the strongest winds hit areas just east of Connecticut. With that said, the state saw heavy rainfall.

Rainfall amounts were generally 3 to 7 inches and caused localized flooding, especially across eastern Connecticut.

The storm surge along the shoreline caused some flooding and beach erosion, as the water level rose four to five feet above normal.

In Connecticut, over 350,000 people lost power during the height of the storm, which ranks 5th most on record.

The worst of the storm hit portions of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Over 500,000 people lost power in Mass. and 50 feet of beach was lost on the south shore of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket from beach erosion.

The storm caused about $49 million worth of damage across Connecticut.

To this date, Hurricane Bob remains the last hurricane to make a direct landfall in New England.

For more information, check out www.wxedge.com