Barrington cleans up after powerful nor'easter

Trees downed, basements flooded, power knocked out — more storms coming

Posted 3/5/18

Three days after a powerful nor'easter slammed the region with heavy rain and strong winds, crews from the Barrington fire department were still pumping water out of residents' basements and helping …

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Barrington cleans up after powerful nor'easter

Trees downed, basements flooded, power knocked out — more storms coming

Posted

Three days after a powerful nor'easter slammed the region with heavy rain and strong winds, crews from the Barrington fire department were still pumping water out of residents' basements and helping with the town cleanup.

"We can't keep up with the calls," said Barrington Fire Chief Gerald Bessette. "We started Friday and we haven't stopped yet. Literally, we've had hundreds of calls."

The storm knocked out power to most of Barrington on Friday afternoon. Near the Warren-Barrington bridge on Route 114, the wind snapped four utility poles, while a tree limb fell across power lines on Tall Pines Drive, destroying two more poles. 

The soaking rain saturated the underground water table and began flooding residents' basements. In the north end of Barrington, basement flooding could be measured in feet, not inches. It washed over boilers and furnaces and hot water heaters. The hum of generators filled the air on Saturday and Sunday as sump pumps worked to keep pace with the rising water table. 

Some people called the fire department to request pump-outs.

"We'll pump out the water, but it just filled right in again," said Chief Bessette, adding that hundreds of people called for pump-outs. "People need to think about getting a backup generator. They should start thinking about it when it's nice out, not when there's a storm."

Fire broke out in a Washington Road home during the height of the storm on Friday night. 

Chief Bessette said water leaked onto a light, causing a short and sparking the fire. Fortunately, a crew of firefighters was just a few blocks away from the Washington Road home helping with a flooded basement when the call for the fire went out.

"They were able to respond very quickly," he said, adding that firefighters had extinguished the fire and cleared the scene just an hour and a half later.

Barrington Police Chief John LaCross said storm damage occurred across every section of Barrington — a downed tree limb smashed two parked cars on Tall Pines; fallen trees hung dangerously on power lines on Nayatt Road; on Kent Street, a pine tree fell across the road, forcing motorists to drive through the Hampden Meadows School parking lot to avoid the mess. 

Crews from the department of public works moved quickly to open blocked roads and clear debris.

"I want to applaud the effort of the DPW," said Chief LaCross. "They were great in responding. Everybody from the DPW did a great job."

The police chief asked that residents not call the police department to check on power outages. He said the police department does not know when electricity will be restored following outages.

"Our dispatcher was getting slammed," Chief LaCross said. "We had hundreds of calls coming in — we don't know when the power's coming back on."

As of Monday morning, power had been restored to most homes in Barrington. According to the National Grid outage map, only about 400 residents were still without electricity. 

It was late Sunday night before school officials learned power had been restored at Sowams School and Hampden Meadows School. Barrington Superintendent Michael Messore emailed parents the update late Sunday night — all six schools would be open on Monday.

But as firefighters continue to help residents pump out their basements, already officials are eyeing more storms forecast for the region for the middle and later parts of this week. 

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