Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Quick Article Index . . .
Westport under water.
Emergency meeting for flood victims set for this Friday.
Meet the candidates.
Westport under water!
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, April 01, 2010
EXCLUSIVE - Pictures of Westport under Water. 64 photos
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It’s April Fools Day, but the brutal flooding is no joke.
Westport weathered the most rainfall since the keeping of records began, and the worst flooding in almost
60 years. Adamsville Pond swamped the area as the recently-renovated dam was overwhelmed and
breached. The Forge Pond dam threatened to collapse, with two breaches that were eventually beaten
back through quick action by the Highway Department.
Mouse Mill Road near the old dam developed a sinkhole large enough to swallow a car, and later washed
out. South Watuppa rose five feet or more above normal levels, causing the flooding of homes on Borden
Street and Tickle Road, with three of them condemned by local safety officials.
“We pumped out more than 50 homes as of late Wednesday
afternoon, and had to condemn four homes on Drift Road, Tickle
Road, and Borden Street.” - Deputy Fire Chief Allen Manley
Quick-responding fire, police and highway departments scrambled to reroute traffic on flooded roadways
throughout Tuesday. Route 6 was under water in two locations and the recently-paved highway was
closed throughout Tuesday night. North Watuppa Pond was 2 feet above maximum level. And the
Westport Senior Center was on-alert for possible housing of flood evacuees.
Route 6 was closed along two sections for extended periods Tuesday and throughout the night. Earlier,
cars and trucks were hurtling into two feet of water on State Road, creating huge plumes of water that
made the Flume Ride at Disneyworld look like a kiddies’ ride. The road was quickly closed by Westport
police.
Right: cars and trucks were hurtling into two feet of water on State Road, creating huge plumes of water that
made the Flume Ride at Disneyworld look like a kiddies’ ride. Left: Westport Highway Department banks up
Forge Pond dam to prevent breaching.
15 National Guardsmen were in Westport Tuesday at the Briggs Road firehouse and at-the-ready to
provide assistance. They stayed at the Senior center overnight.
“Whether we see something like this again in the next 50 years, we don’t know, but people are living
through history,” said Walter Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Taunton.
Wednesday morning brings relief from the rain.
It’s Wednesday morning and Westport has just weathered the worst flooding in almost 60 years. It’s
Wednesday morning and it’s not raining.
After 40 hours of rainfall, heavy at times, flood waters on many roadways began to recede. Potentially
dangerous conditions with area dams were averted, for now.
“My father hasn’t seen flooding like this since the ’54 hurricane,” Chris Gonsalves of the Highway
Department said Tuesday afternoon at the Forge Road dam. “There is actually water cresting around the
pond’s western embankment near the dam, spilling onto Forge Road.”
“Whether we see something like this again in the next 50 years,
we don’t know, but people are living through history,” said Walter
Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in
Taunton.
Gonsalves was operating the town’s frontend loader, moving sand and fill to shore up the western
embankment. Highway department barriers were set up on the roadway’s southern edge, and throughout
the early evening the heavy earth-moving equipment was kept at-the-ready to move in and prevent a
potential breach.
Lately, Forge
Pond has
been under
scrutiny, with
some area
environmental
groups
wanting to
remove the
privatelyowned dam to
encourage
the return of
spawning
herring. Fire
Chief Brian
Legendre,
although not
taking a
position on
the removal
of the dam,
voiced his
opinion that
the removal
of the structure would eliminate the fire-protection water source to the vacant Hoyt Manufacturing
building, thereby creating a fire hazard.
“Draining the pond would create a hardship for any prospective business interested in moving into the
Hoyt mill and as a result could keep it vacant indefinitely, creating an eyesore and fire hazard to the
community,” Chief Legendre said.
Amanda Assad (pictured left) on Borden Street sloshed through 18 inches of water on the first floor of
their flooded home. “I renovated this home three times over the years and spent thousands of dollars,”
said owner Ron Assad. “We were just getting ready to redo the kitchen.” The Assad’s home was
condemned by the Westport fire department on Wednesday. “Now what do we do?”
Trout Pond, Mouse Mill Pond, and the Head Dam, dried up for years since the old mill ponds’ stone and
earthen structures were broken through by the Army Corp of Engineers in the early 1950s, were filled to
capacity, a surreal scene as turbulent flood waters rushed through the breaches and flooded everything in
sight downstream.
“The pond has been dry for as long as I can remember,” said a Trout Pond abutter on Tuesday.
Conditions were cataclysmic at Adamsville Pond. The recently renovated dam was completely
overwhelmed, spilling water over the area and onto Adamsville Road.
Intermittent rivulets turned into frenzied streams, and brooks into furious rivers as the saturated land
threw off the water onto roads and homeowners’ properties. No road, no backyard was spared
overflowing streams and surface water backup. Home sump pumps and auxiliary pumps brought in to
handle flooded basements were working overtime throughout Westport.
“We pumped out more than 50 homes as of late Wednesday afternoon,” Deputy Fire Chief Allen Manley
said.
Sandbags obtained from the Briggs Road fire station were used to keep encroaching South Watuppa
waters from inundating Ralco Electric facilities on State Road near the Fall River line. “I’ve never seen it
this bad,” said the owners as they photographed the scene.
The Westport Senior Center was put on alert for possible housing of flood evacuees, but was not used.
Governor Deval Patrick declared Bristol County, among others, a disaster area and as expected
President Obama signed off on the plan March 30th. AP reported that “President Barack Obama has
declared seven Massachusetts counties, including Essex County, major disaster areas, freeing up federal
aid to people and households for damages caused severe storms and flooding that began March 12.”
“Help will be forthcoming from FEMA and MEMA,” state
representative Michael Rodrigues told EverythingWestport.com.
“We have people coming in this week, and they will begin to
process requests for help from the federal government.”
Rainfall records fall in Boston and Providence.
According to Walter Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Taunton, and as
reported by the Fall River Herald, the amount of rain dumped on the area in the past few weeks “is
unprecedented in the last 100 years of weather history in southeastern New England,” Drag said. “The
all-time record in Providence for any month is 15.38 inches, set in October 2005. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday,
this month has had 15.58 inches.”
Sun is predicted today for Westport by the National Weather Service, but rivers will likely reach their peak
today or tomorrow and take days before receding. “Even when rain quits, that doesn’t mean the threat of
flooding will subsist.” Drag said.
“Whether we see something like this again in the next 50 years, we don’t know, but people are living
through history,” said Drag.
Left: Plymouth Avenue shore-side residences under water. Right: Ralco Electric deployed sandbags to
shore up its defenses against South Watuppa Pond.
Few basements and backyards were spared flooding, and several properties experienced flash flooding
as the drenching rainwater flowed over saturated ground toward the branches of the Westport River.
The Hurricane of 1954 dumped more rain in a single day than Westport experienced at the first part of
this week, and flash flooding back then was severe in certain areas. However, the record amounts of
accumulated rainfall in March of this year caused extreme runoff due to saturated ground that affected
every stream, brook, pond, and river in the area. No property was spared, no roadway not under water.
Country Store at the Head of Westport is a victim of the East Branch as the river crests its banks at Old
County Road.
Left: Ozzie the Ostrich is looking for its mate to board the ark as its roaming space off Gifford Road is
flooded. Right: Angelina Brook shows her angry side as a torrent of white water races across Cornell Road
towards the West Branch.
Left: Forge Pond dam. Right: Route 6 under water.
Left: Jack Sisson and his highway crew ponder over how to best handle the sinkhole on Mouse Mill Road.
Right: Normally placid brooks were raging rivers as runoff overwhelmed the countryside.
Emergency meeting for flood victims set for this Friday.
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, April 01, 2010
State Representative Michael J. Rodrigues, D–Westport, together with Mayor Will Flanagan, have
announced an emergency public meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency and
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency personnel in order to provide information to property
owners and residents affected by recent flooding.
The meeting will be held Friday, April 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing
Center, 151 Martine St.
“This is an opportunity for those living around Watuppa ponds to listen to FEMA and MEMA personnel,
ask questions, and get information regarding emergency federal funding that could be available to them,”
Rodrigues said in a press release.
Safety personnel from Westport and Fall River will also attend.
“Help will be forthcoming from the FEMA and MEMA,” state representative Michael Rodrigues told
EverythingWestport.com. “We have people coming in this week, and they will begin to process requests
for help from the federal government.”
For more information, call Pedro Amaral at Rodrigues' office at (508) 646-0650
Meet the candidates.
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Selectman candidates - left: Liz Collins, and right: Richard Spirlet.
Upcoming Selectman's race is all about Prop 2 1/2 override.
Question 1 in the upcoming April 13 annual election to override Proposition 2 1/2 was a central issue of a
contentious exchange between proponents and opponents of the ballot question at the recent
Candidates' Night at the Westport High School.
Westport residents will get another chance to question the candidates April 7 at the Westport Senior
Center.
In a race where there are 13, possibly 14, uncontested seats, only the race to fill the spot being vacated
by current selectman Gary Mauk, who decided not to run, is providing a modicum of interest as evidenced
by less than 50 residents who showed up in the high school auditorium.
Meet the candidates at the Westport Senior Center on April 7th
Former Westport selectwoman Liz Collins and newcomer Richard Spirlet are set to square off again at a
candidates' afternoon at the Westport Senior Center on Reed Road Wednesday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. But
the proposition 2 1/2 question is bound to again take center stage.
With a little over a week before the election on April 13 voters will have to discern the pros and cons to an
override, and what impact it may or may not have for the school system and other town boards.
"No matter what your position on this question," selectman candidate Richard Spirlet said at Candidates'
Night, "you need to vote your mind on April 13."
Liz Collins, a public service advocate, supports a 2/ 1/2 override.
Attend Candidates' Afternoon this Wednesday April 7 at 1:00 p.m.and learn more about the issues facing
Westport's financial future, and meet the candidates who may determine it.
Above, from the left: Steven Fors, Moderator; Sean Leach, Board of Health; Russell T. Kleber, 3-year
School Committee; and Eric Larrivee, 3-year School Committee.
Above, from the left: Jason C. Powell, Fish Commissioner; Robert J. Gormley, Trustees of Free Public
Library; Veronica “Ronnie” Beaulieu; and Elaine Ostroff, Planning Board.
Above, from the left: Charles “Wally” Nichols III, Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds; and Elizabeth A.
“Liz” Collins, Housing Authority.
The only other contested position among the 15 on the ballot is Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds
with Ronald C. Costa squaring off against Charles W. Nichols III.
Running unopposed for town office are:
Moderator – Steven W. Fors, uncontested
Assessor – Stephen Medeiros, uncontested
Board of Health – Sean M. Leach, uncontested
School Committee, 3-years – Russell T. Kleber, uncontested
School Committee, 3-years – Eric Larrivee, uncontested
School Committee, 2-year unexpired term – James A. Bernard, uncontested
Fish Commissioner – Jason C. Powell, uncontested
Trustees Of Free Public Library – Robert J. Gormley, uncontested
Trustees Of Free Public Library – Majorie T. Sandborg, uncontested
Landing Commissioner – Maxwell F. Turner, uncontested
Housing Authority – Elizabeth A. Collins, uncontested
Planning Board – Elaine Ostroff, uncontested
- - - - - End - - - - © 2010 Community Events of Westport
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