LEOMINSTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Crews in Leominster spent Tuesday morning rushing to make repairs and clear debris after receding waters revealed widespread damage in multiple neighborhoods, following Monday night’s torrential downpours and flooding.
Lancaster Street alone was the scene of sinkholes, caved-in driveways and even a vehicle dangling from the foundation of a property’s garage as residents waded through inches of mud to retrieve their belongings.
The area was inundated with rain Monday evening, with at least seven inches falling in the area and what was believed to be ten inches in some pockets, prompting a state of emergency declaration from city leaders.
Other sites with major weather damage included Durand Buick GMC Cadillac on Main Street, where a section of the dealership’s lot caved in and sent several SUVs below street level and towards the neighboring Nashua River.
Surveying the damage, the dealership’s owner told 7NEWS he was grateful no one was hurt and that no customer cars were damaged during the storms
“We were able to move all the cars out of harm’s way – there was nothing, no customer’s cars, no inventory cars were damaged,” said Joel Baker. “The ground [gave way] under a couple of cars. We lost three vehicles it looks like, but other than that, we’re very lucky with the extent of the damage here.”
Like several other streets, authorities continued to block off the roadway near the on-ramp for Route 2, which was partly underwater itself at one point on Monday.
“It’s terrible, I’ve never seen this – I’ve been living here for 55 years and never seen this,” resident Claudette Simmons told 7NEWS. “What did it look like? We had water coming off from underneath the bridge where the river runs.”
National Grid workers, paving companies as well as Department of Public Works crews could be seen working throughout the area Tuesday.
The daylong efforts were underway in places like Central Street, less than a few hours after dozens of people were rescued via raft from the nearby Meadowbrook Acres Mobile Home Park.
“Everything was flooded over here, but when they knocked on our doors, they said ‘You have to evacuate,’ so, we had to get ready to go out – they did that to the whole park, knocked on everybody’s door to get them out,” one resident said, noting that buses and boats were used throughout the night for the operation.
Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella told 7NEWS it was a miracle that there was no loss of life during the rain and flooding that he considered “catastrophic.”
He added that he was only aware of minor injuries as a result of the flooding and that as of late Tuesday morning, officials were still getting a sense of how widespread the damage is.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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