Nor’easter pounds Cape Cod With Significant Coastal Flooding, Hurricane Force Wind

Provincetown flooding

HYANNIS – The Cape and Islands were hit with rain, strong winds and snow during Thursday’s Nor’easter.

But the biggest impact was the extensive coastal flooding that inundated sections of Route 6A, trapped drivers and prompted fire department rescues from low-lying neighborhoods.

The early-afternoon high-tide sent water spilling from Cape Cod Bay onto roads and yards.

Police from Sandwich to Brewster were forced to close sections of the Old King’s Highway until the water receded.

In West Barnstable, two vehicles became partially submerged on Route 6A in more than 3 feet of water.

The area in front of the Sandwich police and fire stations also experienced significant flooding as water poured out of the marsh.

In Chatham, police and fire officials had to rescue residents near Morris Island as the high tide came in around 1 p.m.

The storm delivered mostly rain for the Cape and Islands until late afternoon when it turned to a slushy, wet snow.

Town Neck Beach in Sandwich after the storm

Hurricane-force wind gusts were recorded in sections of Wellfleet, Barnstable and Nantucket.

At Town Neck Beach in Sandwich Friday, town officials were beginning to survey the damage, where is appears some of the stairs were washed away.

The town did a major reconstruction and dune replenishment project on Town Neck a couple of years ago. The dune structure needs additional fortification and efforts are underway for that to happen in the next couple of years.

Some worry it could be too late if the beach keeps getting hit my monster storms.

A gust of 76 mhp was recorded on Nantucket just before 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Gusts of 70 mhp or more also happened in Falmouth and Aquinnah.

“Obviously this was a significant storm and the historic flooding, with freezing temperatures before and after the event posed challenged to our first responders and to our road crews,” said Governor Charlie Baker Thursday night.

The region may have dodged a bullet when it comes to power outages.

At the height of the storm, 12,000 people were without electricity, but Eversource was able to restore service to nearly the entire region last night.

Officials were concerned about falling temperatures creating a dangerous situation for those without heat.

Just scattered outages remain this morning in isolated areas of the Lower and Outer Cape.

Dennis was one of the hardest hit towns by power outages, with 7,000 customers losing service Thursday afternoon. 

As the storm moved away overnight, it dragged more Arctic temperatures into the region. The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory for Friday night.

It’s expected to only reach 10 degree above zero on the Cape Saturday. Winds chills will be well below zero.

Local transportation agencies are working to get back to normal operations.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority has resumed normal fixed route and DART service.

Peter Pan has also returned to service, but some early morning trips between Hyannis and Providence and Hyannis and Logan Airport were cancelled.

Plymouth and Brockton is operating on a weekend-plus schedule.

HyLine will not run any boats to and from Nantucket Friday. The Steamship Authority is operating on a boat-by-boat basis to and from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

Cape Air has delayed all flights in the Northeast until 10 a.m.

MassDOT’s snow and ice operations continued throughout the night as crews treated and cleared roadways with more than 3,600 pieces of snow and ice equipment.

On Friday, the High Occupancy Vehicle lane on I-93 between Boston and Quincy will be closed for the afternoon and evening commutes due to storm cleanup operations.

By MATT PITTA and MATT MCCARTHY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

 

 

 

About CapeCod.com NewsCenter

The award-winning CapeCod.com NewsCenter provides the Cape Cod community with a constant, credible source for local news. We are on the job seven days a week.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy