Coastal Flood — Eastern Plymouth, Massachusetts

2010-12-27 · Eastern Plymouth, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Moderate to major coastal flooding impacted eastern Plymouth County during the early morning high tide. The most severe flooding affected Scituate, where over one hundred people were evacuated. Most coastal roads were closed due to flooding and overwash debris including Otis and Scituate Avenues, Inner Harbor Road, and the Town Way Extension in the Peggotty Beach section. Significant damage occurred to coastal structures such as homes and stairways. The coastal flooding inundated one house to the point that seawater was flooding the electrical box. This resulted in a house fire. Because of the coastal flooding, firefighters had trouble reaching the house to put the fire out and the fire spread to a neighbor's house. While the first house was empty (a seasonal home), the neighbor's house had to be evacuated and the occupants were evacuated by boat. Both houses were a total loss. Flooding was less severe elsewhere but still significant. In Plymouth, Warren Avenue was closed and a sea wall was damaged. Route 3A between Warren Avenue and Clifford Road was closed. In Marshfield, several roads had ponding of water and overwash debris such as Monitor, Mayflower, and Constellation Avenues. Ocean Road was closed due to flooding.

Wider weather episode

Moderate to major coastal flooding affected the eastern Massachusetts coast during the early morning high tide. For some locations, especially near Hull and Scituate, this was the worst coastal flooding experienced since December, 1992.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 273395. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.