By Adam Swift
Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna wants to make sure that the DCR shuts the tide gates on Winthrop Parkway during heavy storms such as the recent Nor’easter earlier this month.
The DCR did not shut the tide gates during that storm along the parkway, causing massive flooding issues for residents in the Beachmont area, from flooded basements to ruined cars, McKenna said.
“People lost their cars, in their basements, they lost their washers, dryers, boilers,” said McKenna. “Some people had three feet of water, some people had two-and-a-half feet of water. They had to tow all of the cars on Leverett Ave. out of there because of the flooding.”
McKenna said the excessive flooding during the April storm was because the DCR did not shut the flood gates.
“All of the water flowed down the street into this low-lying community,” said McKenna. “I was on the phone with them twice saying that this is a Nor’easter, we shouldn’t take this for granted, and they were saying that the tides were only going to be 13 feet high and they didn’t think it was warranted to shut the gate.”
The councillor said the DCR didn’t listen to her concerns, which ended up being realized when the tides flooded the neighborhood.
“Winthrop Parkway, Leverett Ave., Broadsound Ave., they all had water up to Dolphin and Endicott,” said McKenna. “It was a blunder, because it takes two hours for the gates to be shut, and they shut the street anyway.”
McKenna noted that the tide gates had always been closed during storms in the past, alleviating some of the flooding issues in the neighborhood during those storms.
In addition to the damage to homes and cars, McKenna said she recently worked with the city to secure a grant for a major upgrade to Leach Park at Leverett and Broadsound, and the park was under three feet of water during the recent storm.
“In past storms, if they shut the gate, we got minimal water,” said McKenna. “This went all the way down to Dolphin Ave. and Endicott Ave.”
The day after the storm, McKenna said she spoke with Mayor Patrick Keefe, and the mayor told McKenna that he and the councillor would make the decision of when the tide gates should be shut in Beachmont for future storms.
