 The hurricane produced a record @-@ high wind gust of 135 mph ( 215 km / h ) at Block Island , while on mainland Rhode Island , sustained winds peaked at 90 mph ( 145 km / h ) in Warwick with gusts to 105 mph ( 165 km / h ) . Upon making landfall around high tide , Carol produced a storm surge of up to 14 @.@ 4 feet ( 4 @.@ 4 m ) in Narragansett Bay , surpassing that of the New England Hurricane of 1938 . The resulting storm surge flooded downtown Providence with 12 feet ( 3 @.@ 7 m ) of water . News reports indicated that the floods covered the area with 4 feet ( 1 @.@ 2 m ) in about an hour . The winds downed two broadcasting towers in the city . Westerly was also flooded , where 200 homes were washed away . There was also heavy damage in Newport , where the Newport Casino was damaged . Some entire coastal communities were nearly destroyed , and 620 houses and 83 other buildings were destroyed in the state . The winds destroyed the roofs of hundreds of buildings , forcing many to evacuate to shelters during the passage of the storm . The powerful winds also downed thousands of trees and power lines , blacking out the entire state and interrupting 95 percent of phone service . Damage in the state totaled about $ 200 million , and there were at least 17 deaths in Rhode Island . 
