More on "Sandy" aftermath

Cats rescued in Methuen; Plum Island escapes major damage

Compiled by Globe correspondents Brenda J. Buote, Taryn Plumb, and David Rattigan.

 

High tide swelled to 8½ feet around noon Monday in Newburyport, covering the Black Cow restaurant’s lot.

Merrimack Valley

About 10,000 customers lost power and close to 2,000 were still waiting for the lights to come back on Thursday. National Grid was expecting everyone to have power restored by noon Friday.

Route 133 was closed about 7 p.m. Monday when light poles fell across it, Andover Police Lieutenant James Hashem, deputy emergency management director, said. There were no injuries reported.

Methuen

A Good Samaritan dropped off a mother cat and her two kittens found trapped in a wind-lashed carrier on East Street Monday during the howling winds and driving rains of the storm. He sheltered the cats at his house before bringing them to the MSPCA. Since they have no IDs, they will go up for adoption as soon as they are vaccinated and neutered.

Plum Island

Thanks — residents say — to recent beach scraping projects that shored up sand in front of eight properties, the island escaped the storm largely unscathed.

According to Bob Connors, who lives on Annapolis Way and serves as an advocate for Plum Island homeowners, dunes along the barrier island did erode about a foot or two — as typically happens during big storms — but the majority of impact came from wind damage, such as shingles being torn off by violent gusts.

Connors reported seeing waves 12 to 16 feet high, and a tide 5 feet above normal.

But, as the result of the beach scraping, “homes were protected that might otherwise have been damaged,” he said. “It worked as planned.”

Beverly and Cape Ann

High winds were more of an issue than rain or tides. “Overall, we can thank our lucky stars,” said Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon. “We had the tide rising and a lot of trees came down, but not many trees that we couldn’t lift. The city was fortunate to be where it is, physically.”

Gloucester was hardest hit, with approximately 3,000 residents losing power. There was damage to the corrugated metal siding at the former Birds Eye seafood factory, and a dock broke free from the Cape Ann Marina but was secured by the Coast Guard and harbormaster before it could damage any vessels.

“We were lucky that we didn’t have much rainfall to add to the the coastal flooding issues,” said Gloucester Police Chief Leonard Campanello.


Original story link here.