Karrat Bros. & Co. v. State

On November 24th, through the 26th, 1950, the State of New York suffered the most damaging storm of its history. Rain, falling in sheets, was driven by winds of hurricane proportions, with velocities reaching as high as seventy-five miles an hour. Roofs were blown off and store fronts were blown in; television antennae were broken off and chimneys were toppled. Electric service and telephone communications were early casualties.

In the heavily forested areas in the path of the storm, trees were uprooted and jumbled together on the ground in wide swaths. Trees numbering in the thousands fell…