Rainfall from daily storms and downpours over the past few days are really starting to add up across communities in New England. Total rainfall over the past four days has been highly variable from community to community. Some areas have seen almost nothing while others have logged over a half a foot (like Andover, Maine). Flood watches remain in effect through Tuesday evening.
Among the hardest hit communities in New England is Alexandria, New Hampshire. Overnight from Sunday to Monday, about 6 inches of rain fell during a violent, long lasting thunderstorm. Residents reported seeing numerous lightning strikes with rainfall rates intensifying all night long. Several roads in the town were washed out, stranding some residents with no way to get out of their driveways. A storm report early Monday morning stated:
"NUMEROUS ROADS WASHED OUT WITH CULVERTS EXPOSED AND PAVEMENT COLLAPSED. PLUMMER HILL, MATTHEWS RD, BURNS HILL, FOSTER POND, KING RD."
Daylight revealed the extent of the damage. Several roads were destroyed and other roads were covered in a thick layer of mud, like the one pictured below. The town set up a shelter at the Alexandria Town Hall for residents whose houses have been cut off by the damage.
Torrential downpours have not stopped since the weekend. Yesterday, slow moving storms caused more flash flooding. On Tuesday evening, a flash flood warning was issued for south-central New Hampshire. Some parked cars were caught up in a flash flood in Manchester. A storm report stated:
"FLOODING ON GREEN STREET AND BEECH ST. WATER UP TO CAR HOODS."
No injuries or rescues were reported with this flood.
In Dracut, Massachusetts, which was close to the flash flood warning in south-central New Hampshire reported a small mud slide from flooding that blocked a portion of Route 110.
Later in the evening, a flash flood warning was issued for southwest New Hampshire and southern Vermont. Chesterfield, New Hampshire was hit hard by flooding, with several roads in the town being washed out. Chesterfield police reported that crews worked through the night and that damaged roads had been made passable as of 1:25am Tuesday.
In Andover, Maine, a woman and her three dogs had to be rescued from their car on Monday morning. Andover Fire Chief Jim Adler said the car was found to be stalled in 18-24 inches of water. Andover was hit hard by flooding. Like Alexandria, several road washouts led to some residents being stranded.
This flooding comes on the heels of Maine Governor Janet Mills requesting the federal government to declare a major disaster for the intense flooding that took place from April 30-May 1 of this year.
The storms not only packed intense rainfall, but, in some cases, damaging winds. In Monday afternoon's round of storms, several severe thunderstorm warnings were issued across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These storms brought down numerous branches, trees and wires. Thousands lost power at one point Monday afternoon.
In Spofford, New Hampshire, a large tree caused extensive damage to a building when it came crashing down in the storms. No major injuries were reported.
There were many reports of trees bringing down wires and blocking roads Monday, mainly across western and central Massachusetts, southwest New Hampshire and southern Vermont.
More rain and downpours remain in the forecast for the rest of this week, although it appears the most severe weather is now behind New England...for now.
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