Flood — Franklin, Massachusetts

2011-08-28 · near North Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts

Event narrative

After receiving eight to ten inches of rain associated with Tropical Storm Irene, major flooding occurred to portions of northwest Massachusetts, from Greenfield northwest through Colrain, Leyden, and vicinity. There were evacuations- exact amount unknown- and there were homes that were condemned. A house on West Leyden Road was reported to have been washed away in Leyden on the Green River. Multiple major routes/highways were affected in western Massachusetts, including Route 2, I-91, Route 20, Route 5, and Route 112 as well as numerous smaller roads. A flood survey along the Deerfield River indicated that in between Routes 5 and I-91, a large swath of farmland was inundated, and many homes within that stretch experienced various degrees of flooding. The Mohawk Meadow Country Club at the junction of the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers was submerged. A covered bridge on Eunice Williams Drive over the Green River sustained severe damage and was no longer attached to its abutments. In Greenfield, the Arbors Assisted Living facility on Meridian Street was evacuated due to flooding.

The Deerfield River at West Deerfield set a new flood of record at 23.8 feet, the previous record was 17.71 feet set in April of 1987. The North River at Shattuckville set a new flood of record at 17.66 feet, the previous record was 12.32 feet set in October of 2005. In addition the Connecticut River at Montague crested at its highest level since the 1938 hurricane.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Irene formed east of the Caribbean island of Dominica, part of the Lesser Antilles region, on the afternoon of August 20. Irene moved through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States making landfall twice. She first made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane near Cape Lookout, North Carolina around 7:30am on August 27, then moved offshore again during the evening. She then made a 2nd landfall, again as a Category 1 Hurricane at 540am on August 28 near Little Egg Inlet in New Jersey. She moved over New York City and then into southeastern New York State and Connecticut as a Tropical Storm a few hours later. By the end of the evening of the 28th, Irene was crossing the U.S./Canada border having produced significant amounts of rain, storm surge, inland and coastal flooding, and wind damage across southern New England and much of the east coast of the United States.

In Southern New England, the minimum surface pressure recorded was 976.9mb taken at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. The storm surge experienced along the coast was generally in the two to four foot range with a high of 4.78 feet at Fox Point in Providence, Rhode Island. The highest sustained windspeed was 54 knots (62 mph) at the Physical Oceanographic Real Time System station at Conimicut Light in Narragansett Bay, RI. The highest sustained wind speed on land was 38 knots (44 mph) recorded on the Automated Surface Observing Systems at both Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, MA (KHYA) and Logan International Airport in Boston, MA (KBOS). Rainfall amounts ranged from nearly zero (0.03 at Nantucket Memorial Airport - ACK) to nearly 10 inches (9.92 in Conway, MA).

Despite the relatively low wind speeds, sustained winds over a 6 to 12 hour long duration resulted in widespread tree damage and resulted in power outages to roughly half a million customers throughout the state. Some of these customers did not get their power back until the Friday following the storm (some five days later). During the passage of Tropical Storm Irene, the winds resulted in $34.7M in property damages, storm surge resulted in $75,000 in property damages, and inland flooding resulted in $24.13M in property damages, all in Massachusetts.

This rainfall contributed to significant flooding in northwestern Massachusetts where mainstem rivers and their tributaries reached levels not seen since 1987, and in some cases (The Connecticut River at Montague) since 1938. The Deerfield River at West Deerfield set a new flood of record at 23.8 feet, the previous record was 17.71 feet set in April of 1987. The North River at Shattuckville set a new flood of record at 17.66 feet, the previous record was 12.32 feet set in October of 2005. The Westfield River reached its highest level since 1980. The Connecticut River at Holyoke, Springfield, and Northampton crested at its highest level since April 1987.

The collective effects of Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, resulted in 1 fatality, 0 injuries, and $127.3M in property damage in the following counties: Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester (all in MA), Hartford, Tolland, and Windham (all in CT), Cheshire and Hillsborough (all in NH), and Bristol, Providence, Kent, Washington, and Newport (all in RI).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.7268, -72.5771)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 341462. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.