BOSTON (WHDH) - As Harvey deals blow after blow to Texas and Louisiana, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh explained what he meant when he said the city would be “wiped out” by a storm like Harvey.
“What I meant by wiped out is we’d have damage that would be in the billions of dollars. We’d have homes that might be uninhabitable for months, maybe even longer than that,” Walsh said.
The mayor says the city would suffer significant damage and costs if Harvey were to happen here. Walsh is reviewing ideas and plans to make sure the city is prepared. Including evacuation plans.
Walsh says most neighborhoods in Boston would be at risk for flooding.
“The Back Bay is built on filled-in land, so that’s going to come up. All of the waterfront area, the North End, East Boston, Charlestown, parts of South Boston and Dorchester,” Walsh said.
But experts say the chances of Boston seeing 50 inches of rain in one week are extremely unlikely.
“What happened in Houston is not just rare, it would never happen in this area in terms of rainfall. It wouldn’t even have half that amount of rain,” National Weather Service meteorologist Glenn Field said.
At the National Weather Service in Taunton, Field says the most Massachusetts has ever seen is 20 inches of rain over five days and that was back when Diane struck in 1955.
“For flooding, New England hurricanes, the good thing about them is that they move quickly,” Field said.
Field says the speed of the hurricanes here can cut down on amount of rainfall.
Even so, Mayor Walsh says he’s working on a plan.
“Moving forward, we’re going to be looking at this in a whole different way,” Walsh said.
Experts say Hurricane Sandy would have caused devastating flooding in Boston. Walsh plans to share his plans at a later date.
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