rescue

LEOMINSTER — Gov. Maura Healey paid a visit to the city on Tuesday afternoon to survey damage from a storm that turned the area into a full-blown disaster zone overnight, dumping what officials estimate was upwards of 11 inches of rainfall over a very short period of time.

As images of raft rescues in Leominster poured from media outlets everywhere, Healey met with officials at all levels Tuesday, trying to assess the true impact of the flood and figure out exactly how bad it was — and what it will take to bring the area’s infrastructure back to working order.

Healey was first greeted by local and state officials and several news crews at the city’s Emergency Management building on Carter Street and provided updates by those involved with coordinating the response to the Sept. 11 storm.

“We’ve got a plan for everything,” Mayor Dean Mazzarella said to her. “It’s not fixed, but we have a plan.”

The governor went inside the operations center to meet the first responders and praise them, including fire, city and state police, EMTs, public works, Emergency Management, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, state Environmental Police and others who worked through the night and into Tuesday.

“All you first responders, we are so thankful. We saw incredible leadership and partnership… local, state and federal partnership,” Healey said, adding that “this is important work.”

Mazzarella also thanked everyone involved and spoke about the large team of hardworking people who helped during and after the storm, which included state representatives and city councilors.

“This is the A-team,” he said as his voice broke. “Last night was bad. They made life easier.”

Healey addressed a question about climate change and financial costs as a result of storms like this, saying that severe weather becoming more common is something she is dedicated to addressing.

“Things are happening that we haven’t seen before,” she said. “I can tell you it is unprecedented but not unexpected. It’s devastating for families, these weather events we are seeing with such frequency now.”

The governor expressed “sympathy” and said her “heart goes out” to everyone affected by the storm, including a large number of residents rescued from their homes by firefighters and police who went door to door — and some by boat.

Along with the governor, Mazzarella announced that Leominster Public Schools would be closed again on Wednesday as crews continue to work to fill sinkholes and make the roads safe to travel again, especially for school buses.

District 3 Highway Director Barry Lorion said the bridge on Route 13 will remain closed for now as teams assess the condition of the bridge, which Mazzarella said sees 26,000 vehicles cross it daily.

“We want to be over-cautious,” Mazzarella said of the bridge and road closures around the city as well as returning residents to their homes. “Safety is paramount, we will have to continue to assess.”

He reported that two dams in the city are “stabilized” and that some of the older residents who were rescued via boat are back in their homes.

“We are in much better shape now,” Mazzarella said, with the city posting on social media late Tuesday afternoon that “people are allowed back in their homes, and the evacuations have been lifted unless deemed unsafe already.”

Lorion said Route 2 was closed from 6:30 p.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Tuesday, when it was under 8 feet of water, which has since subsided.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this in my 28-year career,” he said. “We’ve never had Route 2 under that amount of water that I can remember.”

The storm and resulting damage made national news, including “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.

Healey said she has reached out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and President Joe Biden and that they will continue to work with them as well as the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to get relief funding lined up. After the press conference, city officials brought Healey on a tour of the city to view areas damaged by flooding.

“We have a plan and it’s now about execution,” Healey said.

Bill Brady of Brady’s was at the press conference and reported that “amazingly” he has minimal damage at his downtown restaurant, especially compared the others in the area that didn’t fare as well, and said he was “thankful” there were no fatalities.

State Rep. Natalie Higgins said she was thinking about late, longtime Emergency Management Director Jim LeBlanc and how he worked hard to set up the city to be in a good position to respond quickly and efficiently to disasters like this.

Fire Chief Robert Sideleau II said that while they “had a long night… we’re back on our feet” — and that the night went as well as can be expected.

“We didn’t lose radio communication and I think the new dispatch center bailed us out,” he said, later shaking hands with the governor and thanking her for her efforts.

The Salvation Army at 739 Water St. in Fitchburg has dozens of free cleanup kits up for grabs and welcomes anyone to come get one.

The governor also toured flood damage in North Attleboro, a part of the state more than 50 miles away from Leominster that also dealt with torrential rain, flooding, and flood damage on Monday night.

“We rescued so many people last night we don’t even have a total count,” Mazzarella said on Tuesday morning to a news team on the ground, adding that the cost of damages will be “in the millions.”

Reports of vehicles and chunks of streets floating, houses and businesses flooded, and more damage and chaos as a result of the Sept. 11 storm were shared via social media in real time overnight as people stranded on Route 2 and other roadways posted photos and videos of the havoc.

First responders were busy through the night monitoring nonstop communication and assisting with road closures, water rescues, bridge and dam safety including questioning stability, calls from residents, and evacuations of areas including a section of Exchange Street. Mazzarella was also on the scene overnight and provided updates through his Facebook page including going live around 1 a.m. and several more times Tuesday morning.

Leominster Public Schools Superintendent Paula Deacon announced around 8:30 p.m. Monday that all schools in the district would be closed on Tuesday. Current road closures and updates can be found on the City of Leominster, MA Facebook page.

Danielle Wilson got stuck on Route 2 with her young daughter in the car around 7 p.m. Monday along with many others who were taken by surprise by the storm. She snapped and posted a photo of the substantial flood of water that stranded a plethora of motorists, an image that shows people sitting on top of their vehicle, that is mostly buried by water, holding an umbrella over their heads.

It took Wilson well over two hours to get to her destination. She was relieved when she and her daughter finally made it safely to her mother’s house around 8:30 p.m.

Downtown eatery Logan’s Table posted on their Facebook page Tuesday, offering all first responders a 50% discount on takeout lunch orders that day, “As a huge THANK YOU to the first responders that are working to help those in need and put Leominster back together.”

“We appreciate what you are doing for folks and would like to do a little something for you.”

Additional flood aftermath details

According to the National Weather Service, 6 to 9 inches of rain had first pummeled the city on Monday night, a total that reached double digits by the time the deluge ceased. An updated NWS report states two trained spotters in southeast Leominster measured 9.5 inches of rainfall at 10 p.m. Monday.

By the time the governor spoke in Leominster on Tuesday afternoon, officials were reporting 11 total inches of rainfall from the storm.

As of Tuesday morning, about 100 people had gone to one of the shelters at Skyview Middle School and Frances Drake Elementary, although many are now back home, according to city officials. Hovercrafts and boats were used throughout the night to get people to safety.

There were at least 14 roads closed at one point Tuesday morning.