New England Floods

This photo provided by the Animal Rescue League of Boston shows Hugh Mulligan and Dianne Begonis leading "Tigger" through floodwaters in Middleton, Mass., Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Thousands of people, and animals, fled submerged neighborhoods during the worst flooding in New England in nearly seven decades.

Water surges around a neighborhood in Lawrence, Mass., Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Rivers across the region crested and the driving rains that drenched New England this past week let up Tuesday as New England began to assess the full scope of the damage caused by the worst flooding since the 1930s.

A man attempts to use his cell phone as sits on top of his pickup truck surrounded by flood waters from the nearby Shawsheen River in Lawrence, Mass., Monday, May 15, 2006. Crews floated boats down flooded streets to rescue people trapped in their homes as hundreds fled homes and businesses as New England braced for its worst flooding since the 1930s.

A duck swims past a floating backyard playhouse in Nashua, N.H., Monday, May 15, 2006. Water from the Pennichuck Brook rose to submerge yards and flood basements in this northern Nashua neighborhood as rain pounded New England for the fourth straight day in what could prove to be the region's worst flooding since the 1930s.

A buckled bridge spans the Cape Neddick River, in York, Maine, Monday, May 15, 2006. Southern Maine received a record amount of rain over the past week causing flooding that has collapsed roads and bridges in the area.

A partially submerged road sign is surrounded by water on a road near the confluence of the Merrimack and Nashua Rivers in Nashua, N.H., Monday, May 15, 2006. The area received about a foot of rain over the weekend, damaging many roads and creating some regional flooding.

Tim Stone of Stonehill Environmental of Portsmouth, N.H., repositions an absorbent boom near oil storage tanks that tipped due to rising flood waters in Manchester, N.H., Monday, May 15, 2006. Constant rain has caused flooding state wide and more rain is expected in the near future.

Kristine Sweetland of North Reading, Mass., fills sand bags to place along the banks of the Ipswich River which runs alongside her home, Monday May 15, 2006 in North Reading, Mass. The river normally runs under the roadway but has flooded the street and is moving quickly towards her house.

Randall Gamache fishes in Peabody Square in downtown Peabody, Mass., Sunday, May 14, 2006. Torrential rain forced hundreds of people from their homes in parts of New England as water flowed over dams and washed out roads. The governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine declared states of emergency.

An unidentified man escorts a canoe filled with belongings through a flooded street in York Beach, Maine, Sunday, May 14, 2006. Torrential rain washed out roads and forced some people from their homes.

Jim Garlough, left, and Christine McClure, both of Rochester, N.H., look at the damage done to the Chesley Hill Road Bridge by the rain swollen Axe Handle Brook on Sunday, May 14, 2006 in Rochester, N.H. Roads throughout New Hampshire were shut down or damaged as a result of several days of heavy rain that is expected to continue.

Nick Oliva, left, and Ray Beaudette trudge across the rain swollen Isinglass River on a closed portion of Route 202 in Barrington, N.H., Sunday, May 14, 2006. Roads throughout New Hampshire were shut down or damaged as a result of several days of heavy rain that is expected to continue.

A car in a flooded parking lot is shown Sunday, May 14, 2006, in York Beach, Maine.

York Beach firefighters Nick Charleston, left, and Dean Horn, right, paddle through the flooded streets of York Beach, Maine, Sunday, May 14, 2006, to shut off propane tanks at homes and businesses.

Firemen pile sandbags at an entrance to the Peabody, Mass., police station Sunday, May 14, 2006, after heavy rains flooded the building.

Eighty four year-old Georgia Retos is evacuated by emergency personnel from the Tannery II apartments for the elderly and disabled in Peabody, Mass., Sunday, May 14, 2006, after the housing unit was flooded following three days of rain which have dumped more than nine inches of rain in parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Senior citizens wait on a school bus to be evacuated from the Tannery II apartments for the elderly and disabled in Peabody, Mass., Sunday, May 14, 2006 after the housing unit was flooded following three days of rain which have dumped more than nine inches of rain in parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

A unidentified man walks along a flooded Walnut Street in Peabody, Mass., Sunday, May 14, 2006, as residents, background, look on. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts as heavy rain soaked the region, flooding basements, closing roads and threatening mud slides.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, left, hears the concerns of residents from an evacuated community in Hooksett, N.H., Sunday, May 14, 2006. Residents Eric Paquette, front left, Claire Paquette, front right, and Kerry Paquette, had to leave their house earlier it was condemned due to flood damage. Constant rain led the governor to declare a state of emergency across the state.

New Hampshire Rep. Stephen L'Heureux surveys flood damage in his district, including a house, in background, that was condemned when a shed slid down a hillside and crashed into it, Sunday, May 14, 2006. Constant rain has caused severe flooding across New Hampshire, leading Gov. John Lynch to declare a state of emergency.