The Shawsheen River could crest at over 10 feet this morning, potentially causing major flooding in the Merrimack Valley.
Torrential rain this weekend has swollen the Shawsheen, likely causing "significant flooding with risk to life and property," predicted Haverhill native Matt Noyes, a New England Cable Network meterologist, in an interview with The Eagle-Tribune last night.
Noyes noted that as of 9:45 p.m. yesterday, a stretch of the Shawsheen in Wilmington was already measuring 9 feet, 2 feet about flood level.
At 8 a.m. today, the river is expected to climb to 10.1 feet, the second highest crest in its history.
If the river crests as high as predicted, Route 114 in Lawrence near the Interstate 495 interchange will become impassable for cars, according to warnings posted on the Northeast River Forecast Center Web site last night. Flooding will also occur in low-lying neighborhoods along the river.
The flooding of the Shawsheen today may not last as long as the Mother's Day Flood of 2006, but it has the potention to be as bad, Noyes said.
The highest level of the Shawsheen ever recorded was 10.49 feet on Oct. 22, 1996. During the Mother's Day Flood, the river reached 8.94 feet, according to river center statistics.
Today's possible flooding follows a weekend of major rainfall. Up to 8 inches of rain fell in the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire yesterday, triggering flooded basements, impassable streets and swollen local streams and rivers. More torrential rain is expected today.
The storm triggered a water rescue in Lawrence yesterday morning.
Ester Lopez, 36, didn't exactly know where she was going yesterday morning. But police don't think she intended to drive into a ditch, submerging her Kia Sephia compact car with an infant passenger inside in chest-high rainwater.
"She thought she was driving on what was a street," said fire Deputy Chief John Marsh. Suddenly "the water was up over the windows of her car."
John Lovett, a Patriot Ambulance paramedic, rescued Lopez and the baby, wading into the water that collected in the ditch behind Central Catholic High School on Hampshire Street.
Neither driver nor passenger appeared to be injured, and Lopez refused to go to the hospital for treatment, according to a police report.
Meanwhile, city firefighters went in the water, threading a large strap through the Kia's windows, allowing a Coady's towing crew to hoist the car out of the massive puddle with a crane.
In an interview afterward with police, Lopez said "she did not know where she was going and that she did not know there was a ditch because it was covered by water," according to Officer Felix Gonzalez's report.
Just before 2 yesterday, a section of North Andover's Great Pond Road near the Flatt's Bridge was closed due to flooding. Bradford Street soon followed.
At dusk, police started having some concerns about Route 114 near the National Grid building. Police feared school buses, parked in a nearby lot off Route 114, may not be able to pass through the water-logged street this morning. Not to even mention how local commuters would fare.
"It's a pretty good washout," said North Andover police Sgt. T.J. McEvoy.
In Salem, N.H., Main Street near the fire station flooded early yesterday and was closed the remainder of the day. Another of the usual flooding suspects, Westchester Street, located off Route 28, was also closed yesterday. And there were many streets throughout town that were tapered down to a single lane of traffic due to high water, police said.
Police in Haverhill reported no major problems due to the storm. Mayor James Fiorentini, however, "spent the day dealing with constituents who are flooded. Every available person has been brought into waste water department to unclog storm drains, clear storm debris and help our constituents with flooding problems," Fiorentini wrote last night on his Facebook page.
Today, Fiorentini said, "I will order a complete review of our storm drain cleaning schedule to make certain we are on target with our cleaning goals."
Raymond DiFiore, Methuen's public works director, was keeping an eye on various areas throughout the city last night but reported "so far, so good." The Bloody Brook, located in the Jackson and East street vicinity, flooded creating some issues there. Water problems were also reported in the Howe and Maple street area.
Several backyards were filled with water and dangerously encroaching on homes. The ground is still frozen, which is exacerbating the problem, DiFiore said.
In Lawrence, in addition to responding to "an amazing amount of water calls," firefighters also went to two fires. The first broke out around 11 a.m. in some duct work at Malden Mills off Route 28. Ten pieces of fire apparatus responded to the 300-foot long factory building, Marsh said.
"It boiled down to a very small thing," he said.
Shortly afterward, a fire occurred in an apartment at 700 Haverhill St. A baby blanket was draped over a door, near a lighting sconce, and caught on fire. Another tenant in the building threw water on the fire, extinguishing it. Fire crews checked for any possible extension, Marsh said.
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