REVERE, Mass. — Driveways were encased in ice and cars were stuck to their parking spaces after the Revere floodgates froze open Saturday night and high tide pushed seawater into the area.
"Our cars all had to be moved and the tires were all frozen in the water. Happy Valentine's, right? New England," said Maureen Sullivan, who spent the morning scraping out.
It wasn't the first time Revere residents have had to deal with this; seven years ago, the city spent more than $1 million to triple the capacity of the catch basin to make sure this wouldn't happen. It turns out, it wasn't enough.
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On Arcadia Street in Revere, driveways were covered in several inches of ice and some homes were completely surrounded. Seawater right up next to people's houses quickly turned to solid ice after sub-zero temperatures took hold. Councilman John Powers woke up to several panicked and angry complaints.
"I get the calls at 6:00 in the morning and that shouldn't be happening. I don't mind addressing the calls and getting it resolved but it shouldn't have to be that way," said Powers.
Especially since the city spent so much money improving roads and tripling the size of the catch basin because of the flood risk.
For now, the gates are closed, but the fear persists that this could happen again.
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Powers plans to address it with the city engineer on Tuesday, but until then, these folks are left bracing themselves for a repeat scenario.
"It's not a good thing when you wake up in the morning, 5 or 6, and theres water or sewage in your basement," said
Temperatures are supposed to jump up next week, and hopefully that will give city workers a chance to address the problem.