Drainage clog, climate change blamed for flooded Boston tunnel seen in viral video
BOSTON - MassDOT is reassuring drivers that it was an isolated incident in a now-viral video that shows the floodwaters rising quickly inside the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston as drivers carefully inched along during the evening commute.
Drainage clog
"This was a drainage clog that caused this issue. This was a very intense rainstorm," State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said Thursday afternoon.
The floodwaters reached 3 feet deep and stretched across two lanes as the torrential rain came down at the tail end of rush hour traffic Wednesday. Gulliver said MassDOT deployed pump trucks and crews to the tunnel, but unclogging the drain was a challenge.
"There's a lot of road debris that comes off of trucks and comes off of cars on a regular basis that ends up building up," Gulliver explained. "Again, this is a tough one to get to. This is about 15 to 20 feet in the line, we believe. It took some time to clear. And as a result, this took a little bit of time to get going again."
Aging infrastructure and climate change
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called these flash floods the new normal.
"It's terrifying and that's just on any given day here in Boston," the mayor said of the viral video.
She's blaming the aging infrastructure and climate change.
"Between heat and flooding, rain and storm surge, those are the main areas where we're seeing our climate and weather patterns changing," said Wu.
MassDOT agrees but is reassuring drivers that the tunnel system is safe.
"I want to assure people, the tunnel systems are safe," Gulliver added.
Crews will spend the weekend checking the many catch basins and water pump systems within the tunnels to make sure there are no blockages ahead of the next big storm.
