Flood — Middlesex, Massachusetts

2006-05-13 to 2006-05-15 · near Countywide, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Wider weather episode

Heavy rainfall, most of it falling over a 100 hour period, caused widespread flooding across much of eastern Massachusetts of small streams and main stem rivers. Major flooding of a number of small streams and main stem rivers occurred in Essex County of Massachusetts. The Governor of Massachusetts declared a State of Emergency for a time during this event, and the President declared major disaster status for those affected in Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts. At some locations, this was the worst flooding recorded since the 1938 Hurricane and the great rain/snowmelt floods in March 1936.The focus of heavy rain shifted to eastern Massachusetts late Friday night through Monday morning with Essex and eastern Middlesex Counties impacted the greatest. Storm rainfall totaled 8 to 12 inches across the area with a few locations in Essex County even exceeding 12 inches.The event prompted the evacuation of several thousand people in northeast Massachusetts and numerous road closures, including U.S. Route 1, a major artery for Boston-bound commuters. A number of schools were closed for several days due to the flooding. About a half dozen dams, including ones along the Spicket River in Methuen, Mystic River in Arlington, and the Pow Wow River in Amesbury, raised the concerns of local officials and were monitored closely. Concerns with these dams did trigger precautionary evacuations. A small dam did fail in Rowley with limited impact (partial road washouts). At least two communities have had issues with sewage running directly off into near by rivers due to washed out culverts and roads. A major sewage release into the Merrimack River impacted shellfish beds along the northeast Massachusetts coast.Record flows were recorded along some streams, including the Spicket, Ipswich and Parker Rivers in Essex County Massachusetts. Other crests were the highest since the 1938 Hurricane or 1936 floods. For those main stem rivers in northeast Massachusetts with long periods of record, this event featured the highest crests since the 1938 Hurricane and 1936 heavy rain/snowmelt floods. The Merrimack River at Haverhill reached the third highest crest on record. The Merrimack River at Lowell reached its fourth highest crest on record (a record long enough to include a historical April event in 1852). As an interesting footnote to this event, this episode now stands as the most significant flood event on the main stem Merrimack River since the advent of Flood Control in the basin.Two fatalities (adult males) were attributed to flooding from the storm. Both occurred in Topsfield in the vicinity of the Ipswich River. Both fatalities appeared to be weather-related. One of the fatalities was reported to have occurred after a person drove around barricades in the road, and one occurred after a person was swept into the river.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5513522. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.