A few minutes before 11:00 pm on October 15, 1955, Greenwich officials pulled the alarm signal and declared a state of emergency. When the alarm sounded, rivers and streams were already torrents, roads were impassable, 95% of Greenwich was without electrical power, and residents feared the worst. The Byram River was 2 feet over the flood stage in the Pemberwick section of Greenwich. Police immediately went into action. Over 30 families were evacuated before midnight. In total, more than 400 people were evacuated from their homes. Newspapers immediately described the storm as the “worst catastrophe” in the history of the town.