SALEM — A disaster of varying magnitudes hit the city during high tide late Saturday morning, causing widespread damage to dozens of homes in the Willows, the destruction of a sea wall on Juniper Beach, the loss of a homeless encampment on the South River, and more.
Officials were still assessing the scope of the damage as of mid-Saturday afternoon while anticipating days of work pumping out homes and businesses in flooded areas of the city. The Willows were completely inaccessible to all vehicles for several hours until approximately 3:30 p.m.
By early Saturday evening, city officials were launching systems for pumping out flooded properties, encouraging those affected with at least six inches of water to call 978-744-1234 to be put on the list.
Several homes along Juniper Avenue and other parts of the Willows had their basements either partially or completely inundated by ocean water. That triggered smoke conditions and burning smells — and one small fire — in several homes during the peak of the disaster, as furnaces taking on water were attempting to heat homes, according to fire Chief Alan Dionne.
“Today, this started to crest around 11 o’clock, which was an hour and five to 10 minutes before high tide,” Dionne said. “Then we got the flooding like we’ve never seen.”
Several Willows residents told The Salem News this was the highest water level they could remember in decades. Some Columbus Avenue residents who have lived there since the 1970s indicated this was the case as the ocean freely passed over the wall Saturday, splashing some homes’ front steps for the first time.
The sea wall at Juniper Beach gave way midway into the destruction, spilling sand, railings, benches, and more into the Willows neighborhood beyond. With the ocean topping one wall, and the other compromised, there was nothing to stop the Willows from becoming inundated.
“We did open an emergency operations center with police, the harbormaster, Fire, and National Grid to respond to issues as they developed throughout the day,” said Mayor Dominick Pangallo. “The Salem Fire Department is working with MEMA, and they’re provisioning us with some additional pumps for tomorrow. We have about 45 requests for pumpouts from the department, mostly in the Collins Cove and Willows areas.”
While Willows, Collins Cove, and Bridge Street seemed like the hardest areas hit, it seemed there were fewer places where the water didn’t go than where it did at high tide.
“We had neighborhoods… Blubber Hollow, Webb Street, from the hill on Washington Street to Boston Street, Proctor Street, that was completely impassable,” Dionne said. “Commercial Street was underwater, flooding into the backyards on Mason Street. Harmony Grove, all the way into Peabody, Walnut Street, the area behind Stop & Shop, Holy Ghost is significantly flooded.
“Along with South Salem… the Point Neighborhood, the South River totally inundated the encampment,” Dionne continued. “There’s a lot of heartache and hardship down there.”
As of Saturday afternoon, several houses were still sitting in water and were expected to for several hours more, as it remained pooled in low-lying areas.
“We’re waiting for the neighborhoods to finally drain, so it isn’t practical for us to go into any homes and start pumping right now,” Dionne said Saturday afternoon. “Tomorrow, around 8:30 in the morning, we’re going to go ahead and start moving house to house and assisting where we can pump out.”
Dionne said it would “probably take two or three days to get into everybody’s basements and get everybody cleaned out. Once that’s done, they’ll need contractors in here to check electrical, the furnaces and the like.”
Lifebridge has been working with the people now displaced from the encampment by the South River, according to Jason Etheridge, executive director.
“Lifebridge responded on-site with four staff members assisting in any way they could,” he said. “We are allowing those affected to come into the shelter to dry off and warm up. We’ve also distributed laundry cards so that folks can clean and dry their belongings.
“We will continue to respond as needed,” Etheridge said, “but we understand that this simply is a bandaid on a much larger issue. Our goal continues to be to engage in encouraging folks to consider more mainstream services.”
Addressing the situation with the lost encampment, Pangallo added that the city is working with Lifebridge and the Red Cross “to provide some quick, temporary housing, even if it’s just at the day center to get people indoors in a place where they can dry off.”
Those interested in helping victims of Saturday’s disaster are encouraged to visit salemma.gov/relief.
“Those funds go into an account that supports residents in times of distress due to natural disasters and fires,” Pangallo said. “We’ve been in communication, setting up a team with our finance and legal folks to see what our options are with FEMA and MEMA.”
Updated at 5:30 p.m. to add Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo and information for those who need their properties pumped out.