Father carries daughter to safety after Worcester flash flooding

WORCESTER — Several roads turned into rivers Thursday after flash flooding in Worcester, leaving several cars stranded.

A father and daughter abandoned their red minivan on Cambridge Street before it went underwater.

“He hurried up, got himself out, got his daughter on his shoulders, and they got over to safety,” said Darlene Farrar, of Worcester, who witnessed the whole thing and who also had to trek through the waist-deep water.

Boston 25 News caught up with the two when they returned after the water receded.

“It was up to my mid-chest,” said Robert Adams. “We thought we would make it but then we got overcome with water, so we opened the window, secured the vehicle.”

On the other side of the city, a portion of Route 20 at Grafton Street was shut down for hours after four cars became submerged in water.

“Usually every rainstorm like this we get probably two or three feet, but this looks like it’s up to about five to six feet,” said Mike Lemerise, of Worcester. “Probably one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.”

While that area often floods, some people said it was the worst they’d ever seen.

“It’s absolutely insane,” said Isaac Fleming, of North Grafton. “It does flood a lot here, but never this bad.”

Worcester firefighters had to help the drivers out of their cars. None of them were hurt.

“Kind of silly trying to drive through it, it’s pretty clearly four feet of water,” said Fleming. Worcester firefighters said they received about 120 emergency calls in a span of six hours Thursday, many for flooded basements.

Firefighters also had to rescue several people from their cars at three different locations in the city.

No injuries were reported.

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