|
On October 4th-7th 1962, about 7 inches of rain fell in
greater Boston. The important Green Line Kenmore Station was inundated with
flood water. Passengers had to be rescued with rowboats from stranded
streetcars in the branch tunnels west of the station.
The following is a description of the event from the MTA Annual Report
of 1962 [predecessor of the MBTA]:
"On October 4, the barest trace of a storm began to show itself and on
the following day, Friday, October 5, a sizeable 1.93 inches of rain was
dumped on Boston. This was only the beginning.
Because on Saturday, October 6, an inundating 3 inches of rainfall swept
over Greater Boston and although the bulk of the Authority's equipment
remained on the move, operation into and out of Kenmore Square, a vital
location in the system, was knocked out with deadly effectiveness.
Simultaneously, four major surface routes feeding through this
pivotal location went out of business. Nothing moved on the Highland Branch
Line [Riverside D line today]; the Brighton-Newton-Watertown streetcar route
[the old A line that was replaced by busses in the 1960s]; the Commonwealth Avenue
line [Boston College B line] and the Beacon Street operation [Cleveland
Circle C line].
Meanwhile, in the Kenmore Square subway, through which all these surface
lines operate, flooding conditions worsened by the hour. On stretches of the
Highland Branch, the water level rose to engulf the trucks of the
vehicles.
It was this very condition that brought local fire-fighters and police
representatives to the scene and using rowboats, they helped rescue scores
of passengers marooned on the vehicles.
The engineering headaches presented by the developing storm began to take
on monumental proportions as electrical equipment failed; rolling stock
became idled and awash; signal systems gave out and the rising flood waters
in the underground licked at concrete bulkheads. The scene was a
transportation man's nightmare.
This already impossible situation was further aggravated when culverts
carrying drainage from nearby Muddy and Charles Rivers became clogged with
debris and backed up onto and over the MTA's property.
For some time, it appeared the emergency workers were fighting a losing
battle because the heavy rain continued through Saturday October 6, and
Sunday offered no respite because on that day, October 7, an additional 2.08
inches of rainfall was deposited on the area.
Within the underground at Kenmore Square, emergency MTA crews and others
took to rowboats themselves in order move through the stricken sub-surface.
The water level here was so high it completely inundated commuter benches
[about 7 feet deep in some sections].
Workers fought against the rising waters by sandbagging the inclines,
down which the flood waters swept over tracks and into the Kenmore Square
underground.
Portable pumps were placed in operation in Kenmore station and all four
subway pump locations at the Highland Branch, Beacon Street, and
Commonwealth Avenue portals.
Pumping equipment was borrowed from the Boston Fire Department, the U.S.
Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard as the task of restoring facilities
continued." ...
Bus service was immediately instituted, bypassing Kenmore Station.
Normal service was restored on October 11th. "Tons of water and approximately
345 thousand dollars and lost revenue went down the drain," due to Mother
Nature.
Return to Boston Disasters Page
|
