New England getting more rain, suffering flooding, sinkholes
LEOMINSTER, MASS. >> More heavy rain began falling Wednesday in New England, where residents kept one eye on cleanup and another on the path of Hurricane Lee after downpours dropped nearly 10 inches of rain in six hours and flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The rainfall was a “200year event,” said Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a state of emergency Tuesday night following the “catastrophic flash flooding and property damage” in two counties and other communities.
The rain created sinkholes in Leominster, Mass. Cars sank into the ground at an auto dealership. The front yard collapsed at one house, resulting in a 15-foot hole that exposed the foundation.
Andre Obin said his parents, who have lived in the home for many years, were able to pull out of their driveway shortly before the cave-in.
“We’re just so lucky that the pavement didn’t give out underneath the vehicle,” he told WCVB-TV.
Parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts were under a flash flood warning Wednesday morning. In Danbury, Conn., where there were heavy downpours, officials said they had to rescue several people from their vehicles after they got stuck in floodwaters.
Rain from Hurricane Lee didn’t contribute to the flooding earlier this week. But it could inundate parts of the coastal Northeast during the weekend, forecasters said. Lee was traveling north and could make landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada, possibly as a tropical storm, forecasters said.
Up to 300 people were evacuated by Tuesday morning in Leominster, about 40 miles northwest of Boston, Mayor Dean Mazzarella said. He said the city has not seen such widespread damage since a 1936 hurricane.
Most buildings downtown flooded and some collapsed. Rail service also was disrupted.