If you thought snow attacks were a pain in the hole, spare a thought for the residents of Revere, Massachusetts, who discovered rivers of frozen floodwater that reached as high as their car bonnets.
Some residents prepared for the incoming weather by raising their windscreen wipers and popping their boots, but Thursday’s blizzard led to the worst flooding in 40 years – you’re going to get through a few credit cards scraping all that off the windows.
Adam Abougalala of Short Beach captured footage of cars stranded in the frozen street which has now gone viral.
A number of coastal towns and communities were affected by the storm, blocking roads, forcing people from their homes and forcing first responders to make daring rescues of trapped motorists in vehicles, the Boston Globe reports.
About 20 people were rescued from their homes in Scituate, Plymouth County, and the harbourmaster Stephen Mone had to be rescued from freezing water after falling while trying to move a boat to safety, the police reported.
A safe space for parked vehicles taken off the street in Gloucester was hit by unusually high-tides and wind-strengthened waves that ‘windscreens and windows were shattered’ of up to 60 cars.
Low temperatures are expected to affect the area for the next 48 hours. Overnight temperatures could drop to -1 celsius with wind chills dropping to -35 in some areas.
CBS News has confirmed 22 people have died across the United States due to Winter Storm Grayson.
It’s believed the cause of the storm battering the Eastern Seaboard of the US is last month’s super moon. Benjamin Sipprell, meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Daily Beast the blizzard, combined with Thursday’s high tide between noon and 1 pm EST — plus the extraordinary lunar event last month — meant that a flood was poised to take place.
He said:
Leading up to the tide, we had hurricane-force winds and 20-foot waves on coasts facing the Atlantic.
There was a 2- to 3-foot surge that got driven into inner bays and inundated a lot of infrastructure, roads, and basements into Nantucket.
It’s definitely historic.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the weather.
Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.