Storm batters southern NE, spares eastern MA, Everett
By JOSH RESNEK
The first possible hurricane to hit New England in 30 years was much ado about nothing, as Shakespeare might have written.
Henri turned out to be much less a problem for Greater Boston and the Cape than a destructive, fast-moving lightning and thunderstorm.
Here in Everett, a ride around the city Sunday afternoon revealed a small amount of flooding in the usual places, a few downed tree limbs, but no major damage of any kind anywhere as a result of the storm.
Curiosity seekers flocked to area beaches to watch the rising tides and waves Sunday, but even the ocean failed to exceed its limits on the Massachusetts east coast, which remained fairly calm.
Sunday was a balmy, gray, humid, dark summer day from dawn until dusk – a lovely summer day when the storm never materialized.
There were, as most of us experienced, warm gentle showers on and off most of the day.
Many local marinas warned boat owners to show caution.
Thousands of boats up and down the Massachusetts coastline were moved to safer harbors or taken out of
the water entirely by their owners in order to evade damage.
Most boat insurance companies offered boat owners as much as $1,000 to take their vessels out of harm’s way as a way to save money on costly insurance claims that would have come from the storm wreaking havoc.
But this never materialized.
The storm petered out as it hit Long Island, New York, and further weakened in Rhode Island and Connecticut as it turned West, away from Boston.
Locally, we received about an inch of rain – perfect for our lawns and vegetable gardens which are nearing the end of their summer run.