Mother Nature gave the coast one last slap yesterday to put an exclamation point on a wild weather weekend.
An astronomic, near 10-foot tide, combined with rain and snowmelt runoff flowing down the Merrimack River, caused flooding all along the banks of the river and local beaches.
Along Pleasant Valley Road in Amesbury, the Merrimack River came dangerously close to the levels seen during the Mother's Day Storm of 2006, said one resident clearing debris at high tide while wading through 2 to 3 feet of water in his backyard yesterday.
"I've lived here for 18 years, and only once was it ever this bad," he said, referring to the Mother's Day storm. Given the weather events over the past few years, the resident asked not to be named, in case he one day wants to sell the home.
The 11:45 a.m. tide spilled over across the Point Shore in Amesbury and along the Newburyport waterfront, crossing Merrimac Street into the Ferraz Shawmut parking lot and leaving virtually all of Cashman Park underwater.
Though there were no reports of dry-docked boats floating away or homes and buildings needing to be evacuated, the tide did push floating debris, from branches to trash, and deposited it on the shore when the tide receded, adding to the already daunting job of cleaning up after Thursday's windstorm.
In Newburyport, Department of Public Services crews continued in "cleanup mode" yesterday, DPS director Brendan O'Regan said. Crews continued to work all weekend picking up debris from the roadways, he said.
Households can put out branches and small limbs in front of their homes until today, and crews will pick them up, O'Regan said.
"The main thing right now is getting to the areas that we couldn't get to over the weekend," he added.
At the coast, high tide around 11:45 a.m. caused flooding at several locations along Plum Island Boulevard, Northern Boulevard and Old Point Road.
The Plum Island Turnpike was also hit with some high water near the intersection of Old Point Road and Sunset Drive, but traffic on and off the island wasn't interrupted.
Waves occasionally topped the artificial dune at Plum Island Center, sending water rolling down the parking lot and into Northern Boulevard.
Newbury conservation agent Doug Packer said the artificial dune that comprises a five-deep stack of giant sandbags has taken an especially heavy pounding in the most recent storm.
He estimated the dune has lost 3 to 3 1/2 feet of height and that the bags closest to the Plum Island Center groin have been partially pried loose.
Newbury police Chief Michael Reilly, who is also the town's emergency management director, said the height of the tide was not unexpected and could be repeated.
"There will be a couple more high tide cycles before it calms down," he said.
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