Many east coast cities in a state of emergency including Boston and Wayne
March 17, 2010
The recent extreme, wet weather in the Boston area has left behind a path of destruction that will take local businesses and homeowners weeks to clean up after. Local train tracks experienced sink holes between the Chestnut Hill and Newton Center stations which shut done the D train on the Green Line. Bus service has replaced the trains as a result and repairs are expected to take several days.
The several day-long rain storms have created chaos all across the Eastern Seaboard. Flooded roadways and city streets and overflowing rivers as well as perilous ocean waters has seen the better part of Boston Massachusetts facing devastation. Dozens of towns and cities in the eastern portion of the state have roadways completely shut down as a result of heavy flooding. Some of the worst hit areas experienced downed trees and power lines and had local residents scrambling to deal with water-filled basements. There were live reports on television of some locals who were actually forced to swim away from their homes due to rapid water rushing in.
In Waltham, Mass, the Moody Street dam was in danger of breaching, putting locals on edge as strong currents washed away nearby roads and ditches. Some residents were evacuated as streets faced the threat of collapse. The several days of heavy rain has resulted in a release of raw sewage into the harbor in Boston, as sewage treatment facilities were left to carry on business at or past their maximum capacity. Heavy equipment such as front loaders were actually being used in Boston to help with evacuations-carrying terrified residents clutching a few possessions to dry land. In Quincy, neighbors used row boats to assist others in recovering dry items from their homes.
Now that the rains have subsided, the good people of Massachusetts are left to clean up the mess. Homeowners are scrambling to remove soaked furniture and belongings from basements and are deciding what to do with muddy, wet carpeting and damaged food, clothing and linens. Local cleanup companies are experiencing a surge in desperate phone calls from residents needing help clearing trees and restoring order to storm ravaged yards, driveways and surrounding areas. This was indeed a spring storm of epic proportions for this area of the United States. Hopefully most businesses and homes suffering the worst carried appropriate flood damage insurance to help them with repairs and replacing items lost to the torrential rains that made history on the eastern portion of the U.S.
