Rain worries Merrimack Valley businesses, homeowners already dealing with flood damage
NORTH ANDOVER - In one of the wettest summers in recent memory, constant rainy forecasts send a shudder down the spines of some Merrimack Valley business and homeowners.
Jaime's Restaurant in North Andover is gutted from not one - but two - floods. Owner Jaime Faria says a second flood revealed sinkholes under his back deck. "We ended up having like four more feet of water in the basement. It came in so fast. Because water now has a quicker way to get down there" due to the open construction zone, he explained.
A similar challenge is affecting residents who live behind the Royal Crest Apartment Complex in North Andover.
Resident Brenda Leger of Berkeley Road told WBZ she believes overflow from the complex has traveled through the woods, through her neighbor's yard, into her own backyard. Videos she provided shows the water created a pool in her backyard, then flooded around her home until it made her entire street impassable. Her basement flooded, causing fissures in the foundation through which water was bursting through.
After she checked the forecast, Leger told WBZ, "I stayed up all last night checking my cellar thinking that if it starts down pouring, it's going to happen again."
"I my whole lifetime that I've lived have never seen rain as this for all summer but the problem I have is for regular people like me," she explained. "I'm a single mom and I simply can't afford to buy a sump pump or a water retention area." Leger has been quoted upwards of $20,000 for remedial measures.
She has contacted both the town of North Andover and Royal Crest apartments to try and find a solution before the next major storm but has met dead ends.
WBZ reached out to North Andover's Town Manager for comment but did not hear back.
In a statement to WBZ, a Royal Crest spokesperson wrote, "It is well documented that the storms resulted in widespread flooding, impacting properties far beyond the boundaries of Royal Crest Estates North Andover. We take the safety of our residents, team, and neighbors incredibly seriously. Over the last ten years, Royal Crest has worked directly with the Town of North Andover to ensure the property's drainage systems are designed to manage large amounts of rainwater. We have installed seven bio cell water retention areas, which are meant to retain and slow rainwater runoff as it enters the town's main stormwater system. We also have annual and monthly maintenance programs in place."
Still, Leger and her neighbors say the problem recurs to some degree every time a storm hits. "I feel it's the town's responsibility to keep us safe, to not have me worry at night of what's going to happen next," Leger said.
Climate experts say the increased rain is real - not just our perception. "We know that climate change is supercharging the water cycle, bringing heavier rainfall extremes, and this then increases the risks of flash flooding and flash floods threaten human safety, and they can cause property damage to homes, businesses, vehicles. So, the threats are there," said Lauren Casey, a meteorologist at Climate Matters.
Climate Matters performed "analysis of rainfall intensity, or how fast and how much rainfall comes down in an hour's time across the U.S. since 1970," Casey said. "So, during this period, 136 of 150 locations in the U.S. experienced increases in hourly rainfall intensity."
So, what can be done to save property and lives? Casey says it's time to get proactive rather than reactive.
"We have solutions, we just need to invest in them and implement them," Casey explained. "So urban areas have a heightened risk of flash flooding, due to the extent of impervious surfaces. So, asphalt roads, concrete, can't absorb the moisture. So, we need to change what we call grey infrastructure over to green infrastructure. So, things like green roofs, bioswales, things that can absorb that moisture, soils. There's a technology called permeable pavement, where the pavement has holes in it where the water can kind of drain and pull. So, there are solutions. We just need to adopt them."