Tuesday, January 27, 2015

FLOODING PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN COASTAL COMMUNITIES ON NEW ENGLAND



FLOODING PROMPTS EVACUATIONS IN COASTAL COMMUNITIES ON NEW ENGLAND




Water flooded the parking lot and buildings at the Chatham Fish Pier early Tuesday morning.
 
January 27, 2015

Scenes from along the Massachusetts coast as a nor’easter set its cross hairs on New England:
 
CHATHAM -- John Small stood near the Chatham fish pier early Tuesday, the parking lot full of the Atlantic Ocean, not vehicles.
“It’s really bad, it’s the worst I’ve seen since the Halloween storm,” said Small, 52, a fisherman and resident of this Cape Cod town who drove to the Chatham fish pier to check out the impact of the storm Tuesday morning.
He arrived an hour before high tide was expected to arrive, about 4:30 a.m., and was surprised by what he saw: Tidal waters were the highest he had ever seen. Waves crashed around the oceanfront building, which was surrounded by water, and waves lapped at a dumpster in the lot.
Small said he was worried about the damage the wind and water would do to North Beach, which serves as a barrier for the corner of Chatham where the fish pier is, providing protection to boats and homes.
“It’s been taking a lot of hits in the storms,” he said, “and this one’s gonna do a lot of damage.”
The tide brought water crashing up into Ryder’s Cove. The Chatham lighthouse was dark; a Fire Department official said he did not know why, and a Coast Guard official could not immediately be reached.

* * *

PLYMOUTH -- A couple who went wave-watching here just before high tide early Tuesday had a close call when a powerful wave flipped their car into the Eel River, Plymouth Fire Chief Edward Bradley said.
The two people were parked by a sea wall at Plymouth Long Beach on Route 3A about 3 a.m. when the surging water swallowed their car and pushed it into the adjacent river, the chief said.
Luckily for the pair, a Plymouth police cruiser showed up minutes afterward to check the area, responding to a plow driver’s report of rising water.
The officer “thought he heard screaming,” Bradley said, and called the Fire Department.
Soon after, the couple emerged from the woods, rattled, soaked, and suffering from exposure.
They were taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth.
The car has not been recovered.
Flooding along that section of Route 3A damaged the Pilgrim Sands Motel and forced 12 guests to move to a shelter, the fire chief said. Waves driven by 55-mile-per-hour wind gusts crashed over the roof of the hotel, resulting in considerable water damage inside. 

* * *

NEW BEDFORD -- In this city in the southeastern part of the state, an emergency shelter at the Pilgrim United Church of Christ was over capacity Monday night and remained full Tuesday morning, according to shelter manager Pete Wilde.
He said in a phone interview that 47 or 48 people were at the shelter for breakfast Tuesday, and 44 slept there overnight.
The shelter has 40 beds, Wilde said.
He said shelter patrons varied in age and most were homeless.
A nurse was on duty to tend to their medical needs, Wilde said, and all who sought shelter received a full breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and French toast.
“We brought in tons of food,” Wilde said.
The shelter will probably remain open until Thursday morning, he said.
New Bedford fire officials said they were not dealing with major medical or flooding emergencies as of 9:15 a.m., according to a dispatcher.
“It’s all people stuck in the snow,” he said.

* * *
PLYMOUTH -- At White Horse Beach in the Manomet section of Plymouth, a fierce combination of driving waves and roaring winds pushed water between the rows of small wooden beach cottages after the early morning high tide.
A thick, frigid mixture of ocean water, yellow sand, and icy slush filled in around the boarded-up homes, spilling down walkways, filling parking lots, and flooding adjacent Taylor Avenue with a foot of the foamy storm sludge.



* * *
SANDWICH -- The biggest problem emergency workers confronted here Tuesday morning: unplowed roads.
“Calls are coming in fast and furious, it’s just a matter of getting there,” a Sandwich Fire Department dispatcher said. “Plows are having a hard time keeping up with it. We’re calling plows to come in ahead of rescues.”
Most calls, however, have been routine, she said. There have been no serious storm-related car accidents, which means that people are heeding the travel ban and staying off the streets.
Just before 10 a.m., the dispatcher said, firefighters were knocking down a house fire that appears to have started because a generator was put too close to the home. Firefighters were still on scene, she said, and information about whether there were injuries was not immediately available.
There was minor flooding along the beach at high tide, she said, but that had since receded.
A police dispatcher said officers were handling minor issues, but there had been no major calls.

* * *
DARTMOUTH -- High winds and heavy snow rendered roads impassable in this coastal town, but only 15 or so homes had lost power as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Town Administrator David Cressman said in a statement.
The power outages occurred when a tree fell into wires, Cressman said.
He said three people have gone to a town emergency shelter, and that wind gusts are expected to take a toll throughout the day.
“The biggest problem has been and will be the wind and its impact on the roads,” Cressman said. “As soon as roads are open, they are blown shut. Also, the depth in some places is so great that [the Department of Public Works] has to have loaders open up the roads first.”
Until the wind abates, he said, “it is imperative that people stay off the roads.”
He said police are taking medical workers to New Bedford and Westport to assist hospitals.

* * *

MARSHFIELD — Police reported that heavy surf washed out a sea wall in Marshfield, leaving officials there concerned about dangerous flooding when the sea rises again during the evening high tide.

Marshfield Police Lieutenant Paul Tabor said a 40- to 50-foot section of the barrier went down, damaging one of the many homes in the area along Bay Avenue. The Department of Public Works is examining the collapse to see if they can shore the wall up before high tide.
“It is bad any time the sea wall is breached like that,” Tabor said. 




Barry Chin/Boston Globe Staff