Arnold “Buff” Chace Jr. was 7 years old when Hurricane Carol ravaged Rhode Island, with a storm surge that submerged downtown Providence in 12 feet of water and crippled the city even after the flood receded.
For many property and business owners too young to remember the 1954 hurricane, flooding is more of an abstract threat, not a priority amid the more-immediate demands of life. And the local, state and federal agencies have, so far, not told them they need to be worried.