Flash Flood — Essex, Massachusetts

2011-10-04 · near Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Numerous streets were closed due to flooding. Approximately 500 houses experienced some sort of flooding, 100 of these houses had to have the electricity cut off to prevent further problems related to basement flooding. Water levels in houses were reported to be between 4 and 9 feet deep. Six houses on Elmwood Road had at least 8 feet of water on the 1st floor. On Paradise Road between the 300 block and 1000 block, 90 percent of the businesses had water damage. Orchard, Bradley, and Elmwood Roads, Humphrey, Burrill, New Ocean, and Columbia Streets, Shepard and Atlantic Avenues, and Sculpin Way were still closed around 2pm because of flooding, several hours after rain had stopped. One elementary school was closed, while other schools in the area delayed opening because of the flooding. In Lynn, Chatham Street was closed due to flooding and approximately 180 homes experienced severe flooding in the basements. Seven city buildings sustained water damage, the worst being Harrington Elementary and Marshall Middle School with water coming in from below and through the roof.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure southeast of Nantucket produced widespread showers across southern New England. These showers trained over an area known as the North Shore in Massachusetts, including the towns of Peabody, Swampscott, and Salem. In all, these showers produced four to six inches of rain in these towns in one to two hours, resulting in substantial urban flash flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.4840, -70.8690)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 350474. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.