Vintage photos: the 1933 Chesapeake Potomac hurricane – flooding in Washington, D.C.

Eighty years ago today, the Chesapeake Potomac hurricane pushed a wall of water up the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. It also carved the inlet between Ocean City and Assateague Island, as Don Lipman described in his earlier post.

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The incredible 11-12 foot storm surge that rushed up the Potomac river caused massive flooding in tidal areas of Alexandria and the District.

Related: If Hurricane Sandy had come south: the dramatic storm surge scenario for Washington, D.C.

The storm also dumped 6-10 inches of rain over the region leading to the flooding of creeks and streams.

On the Library of Congress’ Web site, CWG’s Kevin Ambrose discovered a set of archived photos documenting both the surge and stream flooding around the District.

I reproduce them here: