LAWRENCE — Oscar Gutierrez smiled as the yellow truck pulled up in front of his 162 Myrtle St. house and a National Grid crew went to work restoring his electricity. Even though floodwater destroyed his hot water tank, Gutierrez couldn't wait to have the juice going again in his three-family home.
"Hey, I'm good with just the power. I can watch TV," he said.
City inspectors yesterday said owners and tenants could return to 16 multifamily homes that were evacuated for safety reasons after the nearby Spicket River overflowed on Monday. Six more homes are scheduled for inspection today.
Gas and electric services to the houses were cut and residents were evacuated to the nearby Arlington School, which was set up as a regional shelter. Many of the evacuated residents found temporary housing with family and friends.
The river and rainwater that previously backed up onto Myrtle Street and several surrounding streets had noticeably receded yesterday. About 10 inches of rain fell in the area earlier this week.
Code enforcement, building and plumbing inspectors met early yesterday morning to "reinspect" the homes so people could move back. Electric and gas crews accompanied them. American Red Cross workers also made their way through the neighborhood handing out disaster relief packages. Police and firefighters stood by as a precaution.
Inspectors attempted to check 18 multifamily homes yesterday, said Ray Hileman, a code enforcement inspector for the past 33 years in Lawrence. They couldn't get into two of the houses because no one was home, he said.
Hot water tanks in many of the homes were destroyed by pooled water. Electrical boxes were spared because they are on walls, Hileman said.
"All of the homes have to be inspected, just like a brand-new home would be," said police Lt. Shawn Conway.
The Police Department's mobile incident command center, a Winnebago-type camper retrofitted for the department, will stay in the Myrtle Street area until all the evacuated houses are reoccupied, Conway said.
"We worked right from here, took calls from here. The chief and the deputy chief were both here constantly," said Conway.
For Gutierrez, and many other local residents, this week's storm was not their first flood.
"A lot of these people affected have already been through all of this in the past," Conway said.
Gutierrez said that in 1984 he purchased the three-family house at the corner of Myrtle and Willow streets for $45,000. "It was cheap money," he said.
Today, he lives on the second floor with his family and has tenants on the first and third floors.
After his basement flooded, his tenants went to stay with relatives. But Gutierrez, who works in shipping and receiving at the city's New Balance plant, decided to tough it out. He used a borrowed generator until it died.
Then, he just tried to practice patience until the water receded.
"It's Mother Nature," he said. "You can't stop her."
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