Seawall Breach In Scituate Causes Flooding, Evacuations
SCITUATE (CBS) - Waves began crashing over the Scituate seawall around noon on Thursday, causing flooding along the waterfront and in parts of town. About twenty residents had to be evacuated.
The National Guard was deployed to the area after water began pouring in over the seawall and flooding Oceanside Drive near the Oceanside Inn late Thursday morning. Town officials said that a new, higher section of seawall held up well, but a crack in one of the older walls will need to be repaired.
National Guard crews assisted emergency personnel with evacuations on Second Avenue and Gannett Road.
Jericho Road was shut down and flooded, and downtown Scituate flooded.
Ice chunks were seen in the middle of Jericho Road. WiFi was down and power was questionable in the downtown area.
Scituate Town Administrator Jim Boudreau said the storm was about what they were expecting.
"The flooding might have been a little heavier than we thought," Boudreau said. "All the new seawalls we put in were doing their job, it would have been much worse without those."
The flooding came hours after residents who live along the water were asked to evacuate their homes. Many roads were impassable due to flooding, including Rebecca, Lighthouse, Jericho, Edward Foster roads, Oceanside Drive, Cole Parkway, Front Street and Central Avenue in Humarock.
National Grid reported outages to approximately 300 homes in the Minot area and Scituate Avenue.
People were also warned about ice "shrapnel" coming off the beach. Boudreau urged people not to come to the waterfront to watch the tide during the storm.
He said the high winds and a high tide will force ice projectiles from the water "to come up and actually act like shrapnel coming off the beach."
"We want people to stay away from here," Boudreau said. "This seems to be a spectator sport at times, people like to come down and look at the ocean, but again when those waves start coming and hit that sea ice, they're going to send pieces of that ice flying."
Scituate High School opened as an emergency shelter with about 50 cots. As of Thursday afternoon, about 15 people had taken advantage of the shelter.
If you need transportation to the emergency shelter call 781-545-8749. Call 911 to report any emergencies.
