Northeast Gets Hammered by Rain, Snow

Residents in some Northeast towns woke up to flood waters Friday, a day after a spring nor’easter pummeled Massachusetts with as much as 7 inches of rain.

Basements also were flooding in New Hampshire, and rivers in Rhode Island crested well above flood levels. Some rural New Yorkers lost power because of wet, heavy snow.

Many of the worst-hit Massachusetts towns were north of Boston, including Lawrence, Winchester and Peabody. About 100 Lawrence residents were evacuated because of flooding and power outages. Several hundred Melrose residents, mostly from a senior citizens’ complex, also were evacuated.

The National Weather Service continued flood warnings for most of eastern Massachusetts into Friday afternoon because of storm runoff.

Two deaths were reported. A man died in a traffic crash in Bedford, and a 62-year-old man from Rockland, southeast of Boston, was found dead of unknown causes in his flooded basement.

Fifty members of the Massachusetts National Guard went on active duty Thursday night to help evacuate flooded areas.

The National Weather Service reported Friday morning that Belmont saw at least 7 inches of rain, while Woburn reported 6.5 inches by early Friday and Billerica saw 5.8 inches by late Thursday.

The western part of the state saw heavy snowfall, with Heath, near the Vermont line, reporting an accumulation of 12 inches.

In Winchester, Fire Capt. Steve Osborne reported flooding of roads and basements, as well as power outages in the town square. A small bridge was washed out.

“We can’t even get through some roads on our firetrucks,” he said.

In Nashua, N.H., residents found as much as 6 feet of water in their basements.

The water reached the top of George Palazzo’s above-ground pool.

“If it goes up another 3 feet, it will be in my house,” he said. “I’m totally disgusted.”

While southern New Hampshire tried to dry out Friday, snow fell in the north. Accumulations were expected to top 2 feet by the time the storm passed.

Rhode Island also saw flooding. The Blackstone River in Woonsocket crested Friday nearly 3 feet above flood level.

Some remote areas of the Adirondacks in upstate New York remained without power Friday after Thursday’s storm dumped more than a foot of heavy, wet snow on the region.