SALISBURY, MASS. (WHDH) - Public officials and homeowners were still assessing damage and cleaning up properties along the North Shore Monday after last week’s one-two punch of winter storms slammed the region.
Left with broken decks and eroded dunes, many were also looking to state and local authorities for additional help.
“I got to believe in the state,” said oceanfront homeowner Phil Harty.
Rain and abnormally high tides first flooded streets in several communities on Wednesday. Floodwaters then returned on Saturday, swamping roads and parking lots, flooding basements and damaging seawall infrastructure.
In Salem on Sunday, one resident told 7NEWS Saturday’s stormy weather marked the worst coastal flooding she had ever seen.
A day later, Sen. Bruce Tarr spoke during a tour of Salisbury Beach, where dozens of homes were damaged.
“It is much worse than I thought I would see,” Tarr said. “We have lost an incredible amount of sand volume on this beach.”
At least one section of dune, Tarr said, was in danger of “imminent collapse.”
Harty said Wednesday’s storm took out a set of exterior stairs at his house, as well as most of his deck.
“Saturday took everything else,” he said.
Harty said he still had some water in his basement Monday.
Moving forward, he said he fears things will get worse in the coming years.
“I got to believe that there’s going to be some resources coming,” he said.
“My biggest concern is it tends to be slow,” he continued. “And it can’t be slow.”
People who own private property in the Salisbury area will have to rely on insurance to get their decks and homes fixed following recent storms.
Speaking this week, though, local officials said they are hoping for millions of dollars in state and/or federal funding to also shore up local dunes.
“People just want answers,” said Salisbury Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Mike Colburn. “What’s going to happen? How is DCR, the state going to work with local officials to give them some peace of mind so they can sleep in their homes.”
Nearby Plum island did not have as much damage from recent storms as Salisbury.
There was some flooding, however, as there has been in past years even after the Army Corps of Engineers brought in 200,000 cubic yards of sand in an effort to strengthen dunes.
Back in Salisbury, officials said the cost of local dune repairs could range between $1 million and $3 million.
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