SouthCoast tidies up

Floyd on the police scanner

Compiled from staff reports

Tropical Storm Floyd toppled trees, downed power lines, beached boats and whipped up some impressive surf as it barreled by SouthCoast.
Mostly, though, Floyd pretty much fizzled.
Still, some have storm memories they certainly could live without.

Eighty-five-year-old Joseph Ribeiro was sound asleep when a tree slammed into his Point Road, Marion home about 3 a.m. yesterday.
The rude awakening, courtesy of Floyd, was just the latest misfortune to befall the lifelong town resident. His wife passed away only a few months ago.
"He just has some real bad luck. I feel bad for him," said 19-year-old Joe Ribeiro, his grandson.
For his part, Mr. Ribeiro said he "wasn't scared, just mad."
But he didn't have to face this crisis alone.
By mid-morning, the Marion Department of Public Works had removed the tree and put a temporary patch on the roof. Without cost.
"This is not something we would normally do, but there was a need," said Rob Zora, superintendent of the Department of Public Works. "We heard there was an elderly man on a fixed income, so we decided to help."
As it turned out, in the aftermath of Floyd, help wasn't in big demand. The storm didn't do all that much damage.
The maximum wind gust, recorded at the New Bedford hurricane barrier, was 76 mph, barely reaching hurricane force. And rainfall totaled only 1.6 inches, a fraction of the 4 to 9 inches that fell in central and western Massachusetts.
"It wasn't as bad as everyone was expecting," said Commonwealth Electric Co. spokesman Jim Ball. "I think we could have taken a major hit but it tracked to our west and it was not as wet or quite as bad as it could have been."
That was pretty much the consensus.
Hurricane historian M.L. Baron of Fairhaven said when the eye came ashore in the Connecticut River Valley, "the bulk of the precipitation stayed to the west and north. Floyd just fell apart for us."
But the storm did manage to cause some headaches.
A handful of boats sustained damage when they broke their moorings off Dartmouth, New Bedford and Mattapoisett.
Wareham vessels seemed to have gotten the worst of it. Harbormaster Michael Parola said nine boats broke loose there and one was heavily damaged when it was blown against the rocks off Cromesett Point.
Meanwhile, there were scattered power outages across SouthCoast, although most were relatively brief. One of the longer ones occurred in Westport's East Beach area, where 181 customers were without electricity much of yesterday.
ComElectric spokesman Peter Dimond said crews were delayed in making repairs because of limited access to East Beach Road, where rocks and other debris had washed ashore.
But in most communities, Floyd was merely a nuisance, a storm indistinguishable from many other storms.
Mark Mahoney, New Bedford's emergency management director, said Floyd "just ended up being a lot of wind and some rain."
In short, the kind of weather where people stay home -- in their own homes. Shelters across the region drew hardly anyone although volunteers were ready and waiting.
In Freetown, for instance, the Red Cross had food and cots for up to 300 people. But no one came to the Freetown Elementary School, Principal Donald Noack said.
Jeffrey W. Osuch, Fairhaven's executive secretary, said "we closed the emergency operation at midnight, simply because the storm went way west of where anticipated.
"It was a good exercise as far as mobilizing," said Mr. Osuch. "But it was no different than a nor'easter in the winter. We'd probably have more damage from a nor'easter."
New Bedford also escaped Floyd mostly unscathed, with only minor tree limb damage, flooding, and scattered outages.
"It could have been a lot worse," said mayoral spokeswoman Bernadette Coelho. "We're pleased there wasn't much damage to speak of, but it also served as a very good dry run for us in the event we do have an emergency in the future."
For city work crews, the cleanup was largely mopping up.
Public Works superintendent Joseph Perry said about 15 to 20 trees were knocked down during the storm, including one that landed on a van on Clara Street.
But that was good news. "We were expecting 300 to 400," he said. "This was much more pleasurable.'
In Acushnet, the only real excitement of the night came when a transformer blew and caused a 40-minute power outage. Several people reported hearing an explosion and seeing a bright flash of light, but there were no serious problems.
Dartmouth's Padanaram Harbor, hard-hit in Hurricane Bob, sustained minimal damage from Floyd, harbormaster Arthur Moniz said.
"There was one little boat that crashed ashore, and two boats collided, but other than that, everything seems OK," Mr. Moniz said.
Dartmouth's executive administrator, Michael Gagne said the community as a whole was fortunate. "We were blessed with the way the storm went and the speed with which it went," Mr. Gagne said. "All in all we did quite well."
It was the same story in inland communities such as Lakeville and Rochester. "We had extra patrols and a few branches fall down, but there was nothing major," said a Lakeville dispatcher.
A few downed trees aside, "this was a really minor incident for us," said Jeff Eldridge, Rochester's highway surveyor.
Similarly, Floyd failed to leave a mark on Wareham, where shore neighborhoods have been heavily damaged in past storms.
Emergency Management Director David Evans said additional personnel were on duty during the storm, but they faced only "typical, routine calls."
"Even at high tide, there were no overwashes in any areas," said Town Administrator Joseph F. Murphy Jr. "We were very fortunate -- we were unscathed."
Only two residents turned out at the town's emergency shelter at the Multi-Service center, but they didn't stay all night.
"We had a number of calls, and basically people were looking for the reassurance (shelter) was available," he said. "We're happy it was there."
Beyond power outages, bashed boats, fallen trees -- and a good practice for the real thing -- Floyd did manage to deliver something else.
Entertainment.
In the middle of the night, dozens of thrill seekers turned out at Monkey's Island in New Bedford and Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven.
Bending their bodies forward, they leaned into the wind, counting on its force to hold them back and keep them from falling into the water.
"This is great -- really beautiful," said a soaked and happy Angel Lafleur at Monkey's Island.
"We are having a great time," said Maggie Cleveland, enjoying the storm with her boyfriend. "The wind is incredible. I am having the time of my life."

Staff writers Carol Lee Costa-Crowell, Ric Oliveira, Sarah Thomas, Melinda Leader, Jack Stewardson, Manuela Da Costa-Fernandes, Mary Jo Curtis and Susan Pawlak-Seaman contributed to this report.

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Staff photos by Jack Iddon, Mike Couto, and Bert Lane

1) The Quest washed up on the shores of Water Street in Mattapoisett.
2) Joe Ribeiro talks abour the tree that fell on his Point Road house in Marion, while grandson Brandon plays on the shattered trunk.
3) Part of a large tree lies on the ground after smashing City Councilor Brian Gomes' wife's van on Clara Street in New Bedford.
4) Youngsters in Fairhaven trust the wind to hold them up as Floyd blows through the area.
5) A man enters the surf off East Road in Westport yesterday morning after Tropical Storm Floyd's departure.