MIDDLEBORO — With worries fresh on everyone’s minds, officials from Middleboro, Lakeville and Freetown are discussing preparations and solutions for the high pond and river levels, which could make for a wet and hazardous season.
Designated members from each town’s emergency management, police and fire departments and Select Board offices, and heads from various public works departments were on hand for a recent meeting.
Middleboro Fire Chief Lance Benjamino opened with news that the water levels at Assawompsett Ponds Complex are 3 feet over targeted levels for this time of year, similar to the levels right before the 2010 floods. Recent photographs, displayed on the overhead projector, at key junctions along the Nemasket River, “show us just how choked up the river is,” Benjamino said.
Each of the three towns shared their experiences in 2010 with the floods, which took over neighborhoods, destroyed hundreds of homes and caused billions of dollars in damage.
“It was the worst disaster in Massachusetts in the last 15 years in terms of federal dollars that came into the state,” said James Mannion, Southeastern Regional manager for Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Benjamino explained how emergency staff had to divide the 72 square miles of Middleboro into four command center divisions in order to maximize response and relief efforts. Several of the dams in town overflowed or failed. Eventually, the National Guard was called in.
“We had to evacuate many homes and entire neighborhoods. Woloski Park had to be evacuated by airboat and canoes. We got over 500 sandbags for dams and streets. Fifteen roads were blocked off at one point,” said Benjamino.
Lakeville Town Administrator Rita Garbitt described similar evacuation conditions for neighborhoods along Staples Shore Road and Parkhurst Drive, and how officials had to cut the town into two sections during this period for response and relief. Flooding on Route 18 was so bad that the state Department of Transportation had to close off sections for two to three weeks.
Freetown Fire Chief Gary Silvia said the town lost the Elm Street Bridge, and access was lost to Assonet from Route 79, as well as East Freetown from Route 140. In addition, dams, such as the former one at Forge Pond, collapsed and were never replaced.
“Any agency you can think of, we had them here,” said Silvia.
Since the 2010 floods each town has gone through its own list of mitigation measures preparing for the future. Besides updating flood maps, Middleboro used grant funding to purchase an Emergency Management trailer, as well as a 50-person shelter trailer for people being evacuated.
Freetown Fire Chief Silvia concurred that similar purchases and preparations were made as well.
Middleboro DPW Director Chris Peck described drainage upgrades, such as multiple culverts replaced to improve water flow under key roadways. He also said dams were and continue to be inspected.
When it comes to immediate preparations and short-term solutions, the consensus in the room was maintaining open lines of communication with the surrounding towns, especially when it comes to mutual aid agreements. The problem, as Benjamino puts it, is calling for assistance from other towns when they’re dealing with the exact same things.
“We need to seek outside resources not immediately impacted by conditions. We need to go out further for resources, outside the initial circle,” he said.
MEMA is one of these outside sources meant for such a crisis, especially when it comes to dwindling supplies.
“We can get pallets of water to anywhere in the state in a matter of hours,” said Regional Director Mannion.
Several officials pointed out the usefulness of MassMap and the Health and Medical Coordinator Coalition for setting up local plans, short-term facilities, and overall assistance with seniors and other groups of people with special care needs.
When it comes to supplies, each town is readily inventoried with non-perishable food, bottled water and emergency Red Cross kits for residents in need. Each town has designated emergency shelters, such as Nichols Middle School in Middleboro.
An important piece of information was the acknowledgment that all shelters, under state law, must be pet-friendly.
Each town and region has its own early notification system when it comes to flooding conditions and evacuations. Benjamino highlighted the Code Red or Reverse 911 system which allows emergency forces to geo-fence and direct warnings, through phone or text, to specific areas. In recent years, social media has also proven to be a valuable tool for immediate communication.
While most of the meeting was spent on discussing measures for dealing with the symptoms, some time was spent debating how to eventually cure the worsening conditions.
“These 100-year events are occurring more frequently than 100 years,” said Allin Frawley, Middleboro selectman.
All contributing bodies of water — Assawompsett Ponds Complex, Long Pond, the Nemasket River and the Taunton River — are connected, influence one another and are suffering from the same problems with invasive weeds, debris, and other kinds of blockages hindering water flow and detrimentally impacting ecosystems and waterfront properties.
Beside the invasive vegetation, Frawley said he believes the issues with the Nemasket stem from all the man-made obstructions along the river, which constrict the water at key junctions and produce “mini-ponds.” He added:“It’s important to find out how much water is going where. Understanding the water levels and flow rate at each junction, as well as what goes into the Assawompsett, is especially important.”
Ymane Galotti, superintendent for the New Bedford Water Department, said: “we can’t exclude extreme amounts of rainwater and higher-than-average ground water levels from consideration. We're all in agreement that drainage is an issue.”
Lakeville Selectman Mitzi Hollenbeck seemed to unify the audience when she indicated the region needs to seek state aid for any real remedies.
“We need to push the political realm for any long-term solutions,” she said.
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