Flooding
Published on March 28th, 2001
STONEHAM , MA - While residents battled rising water in their basements, Stoneham Public Works struggled to keep the sewerage system flowing. Six inches of rain pounced on piles of leftover snow last Thursday, March 22. “With the substantial snow melt, the ground was almost saturated before the rain came down,” said Public Works Director Bob Grover. This meant flooding for the usual victims and some new inductees into this most frustrating society. Residents along the Sweetwater Brook were hit hard as usual. The Bear Hill drainage project, which should help these folks, is scheduled to be in service by mid-spring. Around town other residents were bailing water for the first time, making the same mental note — buy a pump. “My neighbors called to borrow my pump, but I already had it going,” said Muriel Doherty of Evans Road. Public Works closed Montvale Avenue, Spring Street near Spring Lane, Pine Street and Ravine Road for the good part of Thursday. Flooding from an overtaxed drainage system can cause thousands of dollars of damage to homes, but sewerage overflow threatens the health of the entire town and surrounding communities. “If our Rita Road, pump station overflowed, the sewerage would go into the Wakefield drinking supply (Crystal Lake),” Grover said. According to Grover, a lot of rain water made its way into the sewerage system, either through open sewers or infiltration. Public Works hired four pumping trucks and manned the town pumping stations around the clock. “The sewerage system is just getting back to normal,” Grover said on Friday afternoon, March 23. The MWRA system was at full capacity coming into Stoneham during the storm. Public Works received at least a hundred calls asking for help, but the sewerage pumping stations remained the first priority throughout the day. “If the sewerage level rises above the drainage heading out from homes, it will flow back the other way,” Grover said. And some residents did get waste dumped into their basements. With 1,700 basements and 33 Public Works employees, the town focused on the pipes and overall systems, not the many personal floods. But even with all these problems, Grover characterized the situation in Stoneham as “only a nuisance” compared to surrounding communities. Woburn High shut down, and Winchester Public Works stacked sandbags to keep Horn Pond from flooding the entire downtown area. Melrose had to evacuate some residents, and statewide two people died: a car accident in Bedford and an electrocution in Rockland. Stoneham did not evacuate any residents, and no injuries were reported, Grover said. The irony of a rainstorm is that although it causes greater damage at a higher cost to homeowners, the town clean-up costs only a fraction of the money. Grover estimated that this last storm cost around $10,000, as compared to $100,000 for the March 6 blizzard. Snow can be plowed and removed, but when it rains, besides keeping the pipes flowing, the town cannot do much but get wet. Attention: If you have received flood damage to your private property, contact Stoneham Emergency Management at (781) 438-5296. Federal aid may be available.
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