Flash Flooding Forces Evacuations At Norwood Hospital
BOSTON (CBS) -- Flash flooding in Norwood forced evacuations at the Norwood Hospital Sunday evening. Severe weather brought downpours, hail, and thunderstorms across Massachusetts.
Ambulances were diverted away from the hospital. There were reports of four feet of water in the hospital basement.
According to Norwood General Manager Tony Mazzucco, the hospital lost power as a result of the rain and flooding. If the power outage is not resolved, more people may need to be evacuated.
"Everything is in control, all of our patients are safe. We've already started transporting patients elsewhere. Our ICU had about six patients today, they've all been transported, they're all at other hospitals, mostly, St. Elizabeth's was able to take all of our patients in the ICU," said hospital president Dr. Sal Perla.
The emergency department was also evacuated: ten patients were able to go home and 17 were redirected to other hospitals.
Over five inches of rain was reported in Norwood, prompted a flash flood emergency from the National Weather Service Boston, only the third of its kind.
Today's Flash Flood Emergency issued by @NWSBoston is only the 3rd they've ever issued, and 1st outside of a tropical system.
— Jacob Wycoff (@4cast4you) June 29, 2020
Speaks to the severity of the flooding that occurred in Norwood.
NWS meteorologist @JoeDawg42 called it "the worst flooding in 10 years" for Norwood. pic.twitter.com/8iXmjXWEA7
"We had limbs down, power outages, limbs down on some vehicles in some places, so we've had to deal with that," said Norwood Police Chief William Brooks.
Other cities and towns picked up drought-busting totals of rain but at the expense of flash flood concerns.
In Westwood, severe weather caused a transformer to crash down and catch fire on Clapboardtree Street between Milk Street and Washington Street.