Flooding ravages Northeastern United States

Tuesday, May 16, 2006 

On a typical day a lively flow of traffic is here, but this six-mile stretch of US Route 1 was shut down due to flooding, between Interstate 95/Massachusetts Route 128 and Massachusetts Route 60.

The New England region of the United States has received the heaviest rainfall in decades leading to flooding and massive road closures. The states affected are Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A state of emergency has been declared in all these areas. The floods have also led to thousands of evacuations in many cities. Only a single death has been reported.

The main concern in many cities and towns is whether the dams that hold rivers from flowing in cities will hold long enough.

These floods are the worst in New England since 1936 when over 150 died.

Maine

In Maine, many roads and bridges were damaged or submerged as residents were evacuated from their homes in Lebanon because of two dams near breaking point.

Massachusetts

In Haverhill, Mass. sewage pipes broke spilling 115 million gallons of sewage into the city a day. Over 1000 people have had to evacuate their homes In Lowell because of the flooding.

In Peabody, Mass. the downtown area is currently flooded.

New Hampshire

Over 600 roads were damaged or completely submerged by the floods in many areas of the state. The hardest hit cities have been Manchester and Newmarket who are both leading in the most amount of evacuations. The flood waters have also weakened and destroyed many dams.

Sources

• Vivek Shankar. "More Rain Forecast for New England; Flooding Remains a Concern" — Bloomberg, May 16, 2006
• Brian MacQuarrie. "Flooding besets region; more rain in forecast" — Boston Globe, May 16, 2006
• Brooke Donald. "New England is hit with more rain and major river flooding" — Associated Press, May 16, 2006
• Katie Zezima. "New England Deluged by Worst Flooding in Decades" — New York Times, May 16, 2006
• FoxNews Story
• Msnbc News Story