New England Storm Triggers Flooding, Outages
State Of Emergency In Effect In Massachusetts
"We do expect we'll keep the state of emergency in effect through (Wednesday) so that we can continue to utilize the National Guard troops," Cellucci said. The guard has troops on standby to help evacuate beach towns or sandbag flooded areas, if necessary.
Cellucci said that there is still concern about possible flooding during the next two high tides -- Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. He isn't ruling out the possibility of mandatory evacuations.
But forecasters are predicting that the storm should begin to taper off by early
Wednesday.
"We do expect that the roads will be clear and we'll have a normal commute (Wednesday) morning. We expect that state offices will be open; that businesses will be open and commerce and government can get back to normal," Cellucci added.
But it was a far from normal day for residents coping with power outages across Massachusetts' Merrimack Valley, in southern New Hampshire, and in Lynn, Salem and Saugus, Mass. As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, state emergency officials said that there were still some 27,000 people without power. At one point, 80,000 customers had lost power. Others in low-lying coastal communities fled their homes, when crashing surf flooded yards, submerged cars and tore up roads.
Ed and Lisa Corbo, residents of the Sand Hills neighborhood of Scituate, Mass., watched the sea flood their back yard as they stacked up furniture inside their house. With water up to their deck, they worried about what tomorrow will bring.
"Well, tonight's tide and tomorrow morning's tide are going to be the big deal,
because this morning's water filled up the marsh, but now where will it go?" Corbo said.
Scituate's Lighthouse Point is closed to traffic entirely. It's under water.
"Until the tide goes out, that water will be in there. It's done quite a job over there. There's cars and trucks underneath the water," Scituate resident John Noble said.
There are flooded roads all along the South Shore. Parts of Brant Rock are under 2-feet of water. Officials are warning residents to move cars out of low-lying areas before the next high tide.
In Revere's Point of Pines, huge waves pummeled the seashore, but there were only minimal damages.
"The way the wind's been playing from the northeast, we didn't get a direct easterly
wind. It won't impact us as much now. If the wind shifts and it holds this tide in,
we could have another problem tonight, even though it's a lesser high tide," Revere's
Deputy Fire Chief Gene Doherty said.
Flooding was a problem along Winthrop Shore drive. The causeway linking Marblehead and Marblehead Neck was also shut down.
Boston proper was a ghost town for the second day in a row, many residents heeding Mayor Tom Menino's plea to workers to stay out of the city during the brunt of the storm. Some businesses managed to stay open, although they didn't have many customers.
"I couldn't get a cab in and (employees) couldn't get their vehicles out. So we were just in touch with them. I drove out myself and brought one waitress in. Someone else went out and helped someone else get here," restaurant owner Charlie Georgenes said.
Further west, the full effects of the storm were being felt in communities that
were buried in snow. Accumulations topped 20 inches in parts of western,
central and northeastern Massachusetts by mid-day Tuesday. In some towns, such
as Tewksbury, Billerica and Middleton, the snow was so heavy that plows were
breaking down.
A flood warning remained in effect for the entire coast, from Plymouth, Mass., and northward, to the Cape and the islands. Winds were expected to remain steady in the 35-45 mph range, with gusts of between 60 and 80 mph.
The subway was still operating, but at Logan Airport, 60 percent of all flights were canceled.
The storm also affected parts of Maine, which hadn't had a major blizzard in eight years. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the state and power was knocked out in areas. Some residents were also evacuated from coastal areas near Kennebunkport. Schools across southern and central Maine canceled classes Tuesday and state offices were closed.
Flights at the Portland International Jetport were also canceled.
In Connecticut, residents breathed a sigh of relief because they did not get hit nearly as hard as forecasters had predicted. The state still got a foot of snow in some places, and at least one car accident and one heart attack were blamed on the storm. State police said that 30 other accidents resulted in injuries. Connecticut Light & Power reported electricity out to 4,502 customers.
In Burlington, Vermont, residents were digging out from more than 2 feet of snow, with several more inches expected before the storm moves out to sea, making it one of the biggest storms on record, according to the National Weather Service.
Jay Peak recorded 29 inches early in the day and Burlington International Airport had recorded 20.2 inches with snow still falling. In the Northeast Kingdom, however, snowfall was negligible.
New Hampshire also experienced coastal flooding and record snowfalls. Along the New Hampshire seacoast, the ocean crashed through seawalls, but there were no major damages, and no injuries reported. Schools, businesses, state offices and courts were closed. In some place the snow was falling at two to three inches an hour in some areas.
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director Steven McGrail said that another storm could come into the state on Friday night.
Stay tuned to NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com for all the latest weather news and reports throughout the storm.
Winter Weather Moves Into New England
