Deluge floods Peabody

PEABODY – Mike Votto took over management of Brodie?s Pub in downtown Peabody a little more than a week ago.He arrived at work to find nearly six inches of rainwater in Peabody Square where his store is located, thanks to a powerful early morning storm that soaked the North Shore, causing widespread flooding and closed roads.?I don?t know how bad the damage is,” Votto said, but believes only the basement of his store suffered flooding. “What can you do?”Votto still hadn?t been able to get inside his store by late afternoon.?I always wanted waterfront property,” Votto joked.Others were a little luckier than Votto.The water stopped 4 inches away from the door of McNamara?s Liquors, which was great news for store co-owner Demetri Shalkas.?We just finished getting new floors last night at midnight,” Shalkas said. “Thank God it didn?t get into the store.”But water did flood his basement too.?It happens. This area floods a lot,” the owner of the Peabody Square store said.The storm itself alarmed Shalkas the most.Shalkas describes himself as a sound sleeper, with the exception of Monday night?s downpour.?It was a living hell,” he said. “I thought the windows were going to break. I usually like thundering and lightning, but this scared me.”The storm woke Shalkas around 4:30 in the morning.He knew immediately that the rain would flood Peabody Square.?This happened last year too,” Shalkas said. “I knew there would be floods.” Last year, the water came about an inch away from their door.?We are very lucky,” he said.Nabil Elkafas manages Downtown Pizza in Peabody Square, which also flooded.He found out around 9 a.m. when somebody called to tell him that there was a flood.?What can I say?” Elkafas said. “You can?t fight mother nature.”Onlookers seemed surprised by the amount of flooding in Peabody.?It is terrible. It is awful,” onlooker Angel Basquez said.Basquez, who is not from Peabody, decided to travel to Peabody when he heard about the flood on the news. “If this can happen in just a day, what can happen if it rains for a week?” Basquez asked.Flood waters hit Lowell Street, Central Street, Foster Street and Main Street the hardest where the mayor declared a state of emergency.Water also flooded the Peabody police station with 16 to 18 inches of water. Also, three police cruisers and two motorcycles suffered serious water damage.?I don?t know if they are total losses,” Detective Mike Craine said. “I do know there was a lot of water damage done to them.”Most of the damage was due to large amounts of rain that occurred in such a short period of time.?It happened all so quickly,” Craine said. “It all happened in one or two hours.”By late afternoon on Tuesday most of the water had left the police station. “We are just mopping it right now and cleaning,” Craine said. “We are still assessing all the damage. A majority of the water is gone.”Police received many phone calls Tuesday morning after the storm started.?It was a busy morning,” Craine said. “We had a lot of phone calls from people who weren?t able to cross roadways.”There were also many cars trapped in the water that couldn?t move.?There were numerous vehicles towed today,” Craine said.Craine could not estimate how many cars were towed on Tuesday.Craine credits the DPW for keeping the situation under control.?The DPW has done a very good job cleaning the roads and getting everything under control,” Craine said.