Haverhill mayor declares state of emergency in city

Burst sewer pipe causes sinkhole, forces evacuation

Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini declared a state of emergency in the city, after severe storms and flooding early in the week carved out a 20-foot sinkhole, and caused at least $1 million in damages to a sewer pipe.

Officials are asking residents and businesses to report their damages and losses to the city, as it continues repair and cleanup work following Tuesday’s storm. Meanwhile, the city is working out plans to help residents and businesses recover, Fiorentini said in a phone interview Saturday.

“The message is that we’re there to help you. We’re particularly concerned about people that don’t have insurance,” Fiorentini said. “Those are the people that our heart goes out to . ... We want to hear from those people who are hurting.”

On Tuesday, Haverhill had more than 5 inches of rain as storms swept through the region. Tornadoes touched down in Mattapoisett and Barnstable during the storms, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday’s storm, along with more rain on Thursday, flooded basements and businesses, damaged roads, and burst a sewer pipe near Washington and Ford streets. The damaged pipe carved out the sinkhole and forced the evacuation of 22 people Friday from a multi-family property just a few feet away in the Mount Washington neighborhood, according to Fiorentini, who issued the state of emergency declaration Thursday.

The people were moved to a hotel as a precaution, he said.

On Saturday crews were working at the sinkhole to stabilize it and installing a temporary pumping system to remove sewage, he said.

The sinkhole, which is about 20 feet wide and 20 feet deep, extends down a hillside toward the city’s River Street, he said.

The city is still working to determine the full scope of storm damage across the city, he said. Firefighters have already pumped out roughly 30 basements in its aftermath.

Officials are asking residents and businesses who suffered damages during the storms to complete a form outlining their losses and expenses by Aug. 17.

On Monday, an engineer is expected to assess the scene and whether the sinkhole is stable. If so, the evacuated residents will be able to move back into their homes, he said.

City leaders also plan to meet Monday morning to develop plans to assist residents, including pumping basements, repairing culverts and other infrastructure, and continuing cleanup work, he said.

“So we had a lot of infrastructure damage, there is a lot of damage to people’s basements and houses. But we’re still assessing exactly how much,” Fiorentini said.

‘The message is that we’re there to help you. We’re particularly concerned about people that don’t have insurance.’

MAYOR JAMES FIORENTINI

On Friday, Fiorentini and other Haverhill leaders met with Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and officials with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to discuss the storm damage and the prospect of getting assistance for residents and local businesses, he said.

Sara Porter, a MEMA spokesperson, said in an email Saturday that the agency has been in contact with communities affected by Tuesday’s severe weather.

“The primary focus at this point is assisting communities in conducting damage assessments as a standard first step in the recovery process. We’re still in the early days of that process, which will help inform support that may be available,” Porter said.

Fiorentini is concerned that Haverhill will not meet the threshold needed to qualify for state and federal disaster relief, but he said Driscoll is working on ways the state would be able to help the city.

“We know that they’re working hard” to help find assistance for Haverhill, Fiorentini said.