Heavy rain causes concerns over high rivers, flooded basements in Massachusetts
FRAMINGHAM - A crew from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation stood above the Sudbury River in Framingham Wednesday and lowered a camera toward the water. They were checking the level and a bridge that crosses it. It was running over its banks in some parts of Saxonville and also upstream in Wayland.
In Waltham, a crew brought out heavy equipment near the Cambridge Reservoir. "Clearing the storm drains," said a worker with the Department of Public Works, who explained they were fishing for a clogged pipe, hoping to stop backed-up water from spewing onto busy Wyman Street.
On Lincoln Street, Cynthia Lombardo used a wet vac to pull the water that had poured in from her pool, which overflowed on the patio above, forcing her to clear out drenched items like a television and speakers. "It just came right up and over," she said. "The rain that fell was pretty bad, and then the snow on top of it melted, which brought the water level up more."
In Newton, an elaborate series of pumps and hoses showed the lengths homeowners had to go to, backyard grass hidden under pools of water backed up from the nearby Charles River.
"The weather's so crazy, you can't control it," said Lombardo. "You don't know what's going to happen from one day to the next. You get snow, you get rain, you get a blizzard...you get wind."