Mass. Towns Receive Funding For Seawall, Dam Repairs
SCITUATE (CBS) – It's not often you can make the front page without leaving your living room. But the Grozier family managed it in February 2013.
"We were without power for five days and we all packed into this room," says Damian Grozier, pointing to the full-color photo of his family on the Patriot-Ledger's front page. "We lived, our four kids, my wife and I, we all lived in this one room."
Living a stone's throw from the Scituate sea wall means when it breaches, the family can be more or less trapped on a private island.
"We've actually had water from the driveway, across and underneath the deck, up against the house, all the way around to the side of the house, up as high as three feet," Grozier says.
But thanks to a $3 million state grant to the town on Tuesday, a section of the Scituate seawall will be completely demolished and rebuilt, stronger and taller.
In total nine towns will receive $10 million in funding.
"To have any kind of money that's going to help with the sea wall and add to the height, it's going to make a big difference," Grozier added.
Massive sea walls like those in Scituate and Hull will get millions in repairs.
But millions more state dollars will head further inland to shore up dams and levees - like those in Canton, Westfield, and Attleboro - protecting people and property far away from the ocean itself.
"There's a lot more work to be done with respect to this [and] as we continue to deal with rising sea levels and all the other issues that come with it," explained Gov. Charlie Baker, who was on hand as the millions of state dollars were ceremonially distributed to municipalities.
Baker said cooperation between the state and its cities and towns is vital "to not just fix what people have that breaks, but also to make sure we do the kinds of things we need to do to adapt to that changing environment."