Celli: Hadley weathers storm with little damage

SWAMPSCOTT – Superintendent Lynne Celli assured the school committee and the community that Hadley Elementary School was ready for students after flash flooding prompted its closure Tuesday.”It was unanticipated rainstorms which were not predicted and hit quickly,” Celli said Wednesday at the School Committee meeting. She thanked the district’s principals, facilities department and numerous town departments with keeping her informed of the situation starting at 6 a.m. and throughout Tuesday while she was in Boston.She was testifying on a bill sponsored by Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, that seeks to fund Swampscott and other communities at the full 17.5 percent promised by the state.”We had flooding in the (Hadley) boiler room and cafeteria, but we cleaned it with professional standards with floor fans, dehumidifiers and wet vacs,” Celli continued. “It was overseen by Plumbing Inspector Peter McCarriston and, at no time, was there ever a mold issue as the water was not standing long enough for that to happen.”The storms dropped 5.73 inches of rain on Swampscott, according to the National Weather Service and, Celli said, the resulting floods soaked the lower level of the Hadley, prompting closure of the school.Celli said that the cafeteria was less impacted than the boiler room where the sump pump could not keep up with the rising water level. The district decided to cut the main line of power to the school – the school did not “lose” power, she emphasized – to evaluate and make repairs to the pump and boiler and then brought in the additional equipment to aid in the clean-up efforts.Budget Director Ed Cronin said that the only other impact from the flood was that the high school loading dock received some runoff from the hill behind the school but that area is inaccessible to students.”It was no hazard,” he said. “A snowblower and some power tools were underwater – under mud actually.”He predicted that the cost of the damage would not amount to as much as the insurance deductible.