Town Recovers From Deluge

Soon after flood waters began to pull back late this morning, residents, town workers and private contractors began to clean up.

Water receded in earnest this afternoon but it wasn't until 4:15 pm or so that the town opened Humphrey Street by the Fish House for traffic, said Town Administrator Andrew Maylor.

The main goal at this point is to prepare for tomorrow's commute and school travel, he said.

To that end, the town has a sweeper truck cleaning debris on Paradise Road and in the Vinnin Square area.

Tow trucks are moving cars that floated down streets and ended up blocking roads.

It looked like a truck lost a load of firewood near Elmwood and Paradise Road, DPW Director Gino Cresta said.

Elmwood was one of the hardest hit areas in town.

It was also one of the busiest as neighbors at the Paradise Road end all saw about five feet of water in their basements, said Pat Desmond, who lives at 16 Elmwood.

Most of the homes had pump lines running from their basement windows as they pumped out water with sumps.

The last time this many neighbors were out at the same time on Elmwood was probably last summer's block party.

While today was no party, many neighbors were in high gear helping each other move items from their basements, move and set up pumps and clear away brush.

Sisters Madison, 13, and Mackenzie, 10,  Carroll used their row boat to ferry a neighbor home to her children this morning.

The neighbor was getting home from working overnight and was flooded out of her home.

Meanwhile, the town adminsitrator urges residents to record the work they are doing. That means take photographs, keep receipts and write down when and what they did.

These records will likely come in handy as the town seeks state and federal disaster dollars, he said.

Members of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency toured hard-hit areas of town this afternoon, Maylor said.

The damage to homes will likely exceed $1 million, he said.

There was property damage but the administrator has not heard of any serious injuries.

The town's drinking water remains fine to drink and the pumping station is running without problems, he said.