Worst Storm Since ’78 Hits New England

The most vicious coastal storm since the blizzard of 1978, coupled with high tides caused by a rare astronomical alignment, whacked beachfront homes along the New England coast today, forcing evacuations of low-lying areas.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for coastal areas of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. They advised residents to move inland to higher ground.

“This is a classic northeaster, a real East Coast bomb,” said Mel Goldstein, director of the Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University.

“We’ve got the chowder on and we’re ready to sit in and watch this beautiful sight,” said Sue Ryan, who owns a waterfront home in Scituate, Mass. “It’s wild. The waves are going from one direction to the next,” she said. “Our driveway got washed away. We just lost it.”

Some Emergencies

Several communities around Boston declared states of emergency and advised residents to evacuate. Shelters were opened in many coastal communities.

“We’ve never had a storm of this magnitude with such high tides,” said William Dunn Jr., a civil defense worker in Quincy, Mass. “I’ve heard this is worse than 1978 because the tide was just going out then. Now it is full and coming in.”

The same storm had walloped New Jersey’s low-lying coastal communities late Thursday and early today. The three roads into Atlantic City were washed out, but casino gamblers continued playing, oblivious to the storm.

Crashing waves swept across a narrow peninsula in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., and carried a summer home into Moriches Bay.

Over the Walls

In Massachusetts, waves slurped over seawalls, washing out streets and filling basements. Fishing boats remained tied up in port.

“We are advising people who live along the water to get out,” Scituate Police Sgt. Patricia McGlone said of the voluntary evacuations. One family was evacuated when two feet of water swept over the harbor and into their home.

Tides in Portland, Me., were 11.8 feet, or 2.1 feet above normal, and were expected to peak at 13 feet, the weather bureau said. Record tides of 14 feet were registered in the blizzard of 1978.

Officials in coastal Hampton, N.H., called an emergency meeting to discuss evacuation procedures, but said no mandatory evacuation had been ordered. Route 1 between Hampton and Seabrook was closed.

Back Bays Flooded

In New Jersey, the relatively high ground of the oceanfront where the Boardwalk and 9 of Atlantic City’s 11 casinos are located remained fairly dry, but the back bays behind the island resort spilled over protective walls and into low-lying streets just after the 9 a.m. high tides.

“My car’s flooded right up to the back seat,” said resident Donna Connor. “The water’s almost up to my waist. The water’s crashing over the sea wall. It’s pretty intense. There’s people stranded all over the place.”

The three roads into Atlantic City from the New Jersey mainland were closed by high water, but there was no immediate call for mass evacuations or for closing the casinos.