We asked readers for photos of Tuesday’s flooding. Here’s what they saw.
A landslide, a collapsed driveway, and submerged cars were some of what readers photographed.
The word “carpool” has taken on a whole new meaning in the wake of Tuesday’s flooding and heavy rains, which submerged many cars under water, turned parking lots into “car pools,” and swamped commuters in a torrential downpour.
The storms dumped several inches of rain across Massachusetts, causing widespread flooding and damage to homes and businesses.
More than half a foot of rain fell in Lawrence, according to the National Weather Service, while Mashpee and Wareham got slightly over an inch.
Here are the communities that had the most rain Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service:
- Lawrence 6.24 in
- Tewksbury 5.61 in
- Andover 4.42 in
- Bradford 4.36 in
- Yarmouth 4.26 in
- Hyannis 3.80 in
- Burlington 3.77 in
- Lexington 3.76 in
- Wellesley 3.67 in
- Franklin 3.67 in
- Groveland 3.65 in
- Walpole 3.63 in
- Bedford 3.57 in
- Cochituate 3.45 in
- Lexington 3.25 in
- Sudbury 3.18 in
- Millis 3.00 in
- Needham 2.88 in
- Natick 2.80 in
- Lexington 2.77 in
- Westport 2.72 in
- Wayland 2.68 in
- Newport 2.60 in
- Cambridge 2.57 in
- Reading 2.49 in
- Framingham 2.47 in
- Somerville 2.44 in
- Natick 2.40 in
The storms also produced two tornadoes, which touched down in Mattapoisett and Barnstable.
The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down Tuesday morning in Mattapoisett, leaving homes and cars damaged and toppling trees and power lines.
“Numerous large pine and maple trees were uprooted, falling in several directions. There were also numerous pine trees along the path that were snapped off between 10 and 20 feet above the ground. The most concentrated damage was found along Eldorado Drive by Granada Court,” the weather service said in a report.
The tornado touched down at 11:20 a.m., and was on the ground for around three minutes, with estimated peak winds of 95 mph, according to the report.
Just under a half hour later, a second tornado touched down in Barnstable near the village of Marstons Mills, the weather service said.
Cleanup efforts are underway on Wednesday as communities sift through flooded basements in their homes and businesses, and navigate roads and cars swamped with water.
The heavy rain caused flooding that caused “major damage” to businesses along North Andover’s High Street, with cleanup efforts just beginning on Wednesday, according to a Tweet from NBC10’s Jeff Saperstone.
Laurel Holmes, owner of Taste Buds Kitchen in North Andover Mills, organized a GoFundMe for Jaime’s restaurant located at 25 High St., which was “seriously affected” by Tuesday’s flooding.
“Jaime has no flood insurance, and he is worried about supporting his staff while he works to re-build. Jaime is a fixture in town, someone who’s endured a gas explosion, COVID, and now this devastating flooding. Let’s show Jaime some love, no donation is too small!” Holmes wrote.
More than $46,000 has already been raised for the restaurant as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Down the street from Jaime’s, Kim Dempsey, owner of Rylari Hair Studio, wrote over Facebook that her store remains closed after she experienced extensive flooding that took over the first floor of the building within minutes.
“There was extensive water in so so many of the mill buildings and my heart is broken for all of the small businesses on our beautiful campus that have a tough recovery ahead,” she said in the post.
In Needham, crews worked to clean up a soggy CVS store on Wednesday, a sign on the door reading “Pharmacy only. Front store closed due to flooding. Sorry for the inconvenience,” CBS reported.
We asked our readers to show us their pictures of flooding and damage caused by Tuesday’s storms in their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods. They sent us photos from Needham, North Andover, Billerica, Wakefield, and Lynn.
Readers share photos of Tuesday’s heavy rains and flooding
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