fb-pixel Skip to main content

Here’s how bad the flooding was during Thursday’s storm

January 4, 2018, 2:29 p.m.
The National Weather Service said it was receiving numerous reports of coastal flooding, and the inundations were getting close to those during the Blizzard of 1978.
The National Weather Service said it was receiving numerous reports of coastal flooding, and the inundations were getting close to those during the Blizzard of 1978.

As Massachusetts was walloped by a nor’easter Thursday, it was the devastating flooding that captivated social media. Those hardy enough to brave the elements took to the streets to capture the once-in-a-generation storm surge. Ice chunks floated down Atlantic Avenue in downtown Boston, a dumpster bobbed along in the surf on a street in the city’s Seaport, and tides erupted into South Shore neighborhoods.

Firefighters were spotted on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Boston after the streets there became flooded with icy water.

Here’s how bad the flooding was during Thursday’s storm
Here’s how bad the flooding was during Thursday’s storm
A Boston firefighter waded through floodwaters from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston on Thursday.Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Boston firefighters worked at the scene of flooding from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston.Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Boston firefighters waded through floodwaters from Boston Harbor in front of the Marriott Long Wharf hotel Thursday.Steve Annear/Globe Staff

Boston’s Seaport neighborhood was also seeing high water.

Water flooded a pedestrian walkway along the Fort Point Channel under the Seaport Boulevard bridge.Michael Casey/Associated Press

In Barnstable, photos captured just how devastating the flooding seemed.

Marshfield also saw dramatic high tides.

Advertisement

The Brant Rock area of Marshfield.John Tlumacki/Globe staff
Ocean Street in Marshfield.John Tlumacki/Globe staff
West Brook Street in Marshfield.John Tlumacki/Globe staff
Two residents who did not want to spend the night in their home in the flooded Brant Rock section of Marshfield walked through the streets. John Tlumacki/Globe staff

The National Weather Service also sent out alerts noting that the Boston tide was on its way to being the highest ever recorded since 1921.

In fact, the flooding got so bad, the MBTA had to shut down some stations and suspend some Blue Line service.

(Blue Line service has since been restored.)

The flooding wasn’t just in Boston, though. Here’s a look at photos and videos of flooding in other coastal communities.

Park Avenue in Hull:

Courtesy of Paula Cuccurullo
Courtesy of Paula Cuccurullo

Scituate:

Waves crashed against homes on Turner Road in Scituate.Craig Walker/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Winthrop:

Laura Crimaldi/Globe Staff

Quincy:

East Squantum Street in Quincy was closed because of flooding.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Chatham:

Gloucester:

Boston Globe Today