LYNN — A tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service for parts of Essex County Thursday afternoon, with parts of the city flooding due to heavy rain from Tropical Storm Fred.
The alert was issued at approximately 12:45 p.m. until 1:45 p.m. for Revere, Lynn, Nahant, Swampscott, Salem and Marblehead.
Residents were advised to take shelter in a basement or interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.
Both Commercial Street and Boston Street were temporarily blocked Thursday afternoon, with deep water stranding cars.
Lynn Fire Chief Stephen Archer said that the department responded to multiple calls to pull drivers out of cars that had become stuck in flooded streets, but added that there was no immediate danger.
“I don’t think there was a single life-or-death situation,” Archer said.
In Swampscott, Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta said that outside of some minor flooding below the underpasses on Burrill Street and Stetson Avenue, he did not see any damage from the storm.
“We got off cheap,” he said.
In 2014, Revere was hit by a tornado on the morning of July 28. The cyclone hit one end of Broadway near Chelsea Creek and progressed down the road for almost the length of the city, causing extensive damage but no loss of life.
