Section of East Street washed away, Residents evacuated for several hours

BELCHERTOWN – After several inches of heavy rain this past weekend, a large portion of East Street collapsed due to a beaver dam failure on July 18, making it necessary to evacuate several residents for a few hours. The combined rain and dam collapse were among several factors over the weekend that caused Belchertown Selectboard to declare a state of emergency.

East Street will be closed to through traffic until further notice, according to Department of Public Works Director Steve Williams.

“Due to the record rainfall this July, stormwater has filled natural storage areas to capacity and completely saturated soils, creating ideal conditions for flash flooding during even minor rain events,” he said. “We will continue to monitor the location on East Street and other areas of town affected by these unprecedented conditions. The DPW will begin to make repairs as conditions improve.”

The dam that failed was located about a quarter of a mile into the Herman Covey Wildlife Management area, causing a stream to overflow through the culvert.

Town Administrator Gary Brougham said early Sunday morning, residents who live around a stream on East Street were evacuated from their homes due to the roadway collapse.

“We got a call that a dam broke and opened Town Hall to folks around 4 a.m.,” he said. “They were back home by 10 a.m.”

He added that Steve and Linda Wood’s residence was greatly impacted, the water swept away their driveway.

“Residents in the nearby areas also reported their basements flooding, losing electricity and other roads, like Railroad Street and Pine Street as well,” Brougham said.

Due to the range of effects of the recent storms, Selectboard Chair Jen Turner declared a state of emergency on Sunday. This might make potential relief funding available through the state, according to Brougham.

Brougham said the town has been in touch with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife, local elected officials, the Belchertown Fire Department, Police Department and other agencies throughout the events last weekend.

Brougham said this was the second dam that failed this summer, which he had not seen before. He said the storms have also increased, and the state may even be approaching a record for July.

“Even compared to previous flooding, I’ve never seen a failure like this,” Brougham said. “It’s not only the intensity of the rain but lightning, too. My sister, who lives in the area, has had her house struck by lightning three times in the last few years.”

He said the former roadway to the bottom of the stream is about seven feet.

Conservation Commissioner Erica Larner said the strong weather events that have affected Belchertown can be attributed to climate change.

“A substantial portion of this is due to climate change. As more land is developed, there are fewer surfaces to hold this excess moisture,” she said. “The loss of vegetation reduces plant transpiration and impacts the local evapotranspiration water cycle. This, combined with global climate change, results in more high-intensity storms and leads to events like dam breaches.

“We are seeing higher rainfalls in shorter periods, and that is not going away any time soon.”

Larner added, “Everything is so saturated, normal runoff can’t soak into the ground and can create flooding and erosion.” With the potential for more rain throughout the week, on Monday, Larner said, “I am worried about more property damage in the future.”

However, that doesn’t mean the town isn’t working to find ways to prevent events like road collapses from happening again. Larner said the town is going to look to replace the culvert with up-to-date Department of Environmental Protection standards, which now require higher stream cross standards. These standards will allow a culvert to “be sized to amount of water currently there, the runoff we are having and what we might deal with in the future.”

Through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant, the town created a beaver management plan, which identifies areas where beavers could be helpful and where they may need to be removed.

Larner said if residents have a beaver dam near their residence that they are concerned about or need help with restoration, they should contact the Conservation Department at conservation@belchertown.org.