City, Residents Cleanup After Rain Storm

Brockton Post
BROCKTON—As residents continue to use sump pumps to empty flooded basements, most of the city’s roads have reopened and shelters made available to residents have closed.
Morton Schleffler, director of Brockton’s emergency management agency, said the two shelters at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and Brockton High School have been closed and although no residents utilized the two spaces, they were there if needed.
“It’s good to be prepared,” Schleffler said in an interview Tuesday morning.
The shelters were opened Monday afternoon after city officials declared a state of emergency at noon.
Schleffler said the Lutheran Church was open until about 7 p.m. last night and after 7 p.m. 100 beds were available at Brockton High School.
He said no residents came to the high school shelter. Schleffler said the last time emergency shelters were opened was about five or six years ago when rainstorms caused similar flooding problems and about 40 residents used city shelters.
He could not pinpoint the exact date, but recalled it was during former Mayor Jack Yunits’ tenure.
More than a dozen streets were closed Monday due to flooding, but as of Tuesday afternoon, most were reopened and city officials called off the state of emergency at noon.
Mayor Linda Balzotti said in a telephone interview today that nearly all streets have been reopened except near the Belmont Avenue area where officials are waiting for waters to recede.
“The Belmont Avenue area seems to be the worst and we’re waiting for the waters from tributaries and streams to subside,” Balzotti said. “It’s one step at a time, and hopefully we won’t have any more rain,” she said.
For a list of streets still closed please link to the city’s home page at http://www.brockton.ma.us/default1.aspx.
Balzotti said the city has received numerous calls for aid with basement flooding and fire department personnel were dispatched to many locations to help.
In some situations, she said, electricity to individual homes was disconnected temporarily to prevent further problems from electrical fires and other calamities.
“What we tried to do was shutoff power to individual homes and not entire sections of neighborhoods,” Balzotti said.
Residents with damages are urged to take photographs and keep receipts for any damages and cleanup services because the federal government may declare the storm an emergency situation and provide funds for cleanup.
“Keep all receipts, and if they can, take pictures of the damage because it could be a few months before we know if the federal government will offer any reimbursement,” Balzotti said.
City officials are also negotiating with Allied Waste, the city’s trash hauler, to offer extended services because of what is expected to be a greater amount of trash and debris that will need to be disposed of from resident’s homes.
Balzotti said negotiations have just begun and there is no final agreement, but officials are working on increasing sidewalk pickup from the usual one trash barrel pickup to more bags without extra cost.
She said officials are trying to get the extra pickup for the last week of March or first week of April, but reiterates a deal has not been finalized.
If the deal is finalized, residents with excessive trash caused by the storm would have to call Allied Waste to be placed on a list for the increased number of bags and barrels.
Officials are also working with Allied Waste to add an extra dumpster at the city’s recycling facility on Oak Hill way for residents to dispose of excess trash due to the storm and would have to show proof of residency.