BOSTON--Relentless rain is pelting pelted the Northeast yet again. Hundreds of people were evacuated from inundated homes, authorities closed numerous water-clogged roads, and officials managing an overwhelmed drainage system narrowly avoided releasing sewage into Boston Harbor.

The record-breaking storm, which pushed streams and rivers past their banks, prompted Governor Deval Patrick to deploy 1,000 National Guardsmen statewide to deliver thousands of sandbags in an effort to stem the surge.

“We’ve had two 50-year storms in the course of two to three weeks,’’ Patrick told reporters at the state highway barn in Lexington, where Massachusetts National Guard members filled sandbags. “This is unheard of. This is . . . a little bit more dangerous due to the saturation from the previous storm. This could cause floodwaters to rise very, very fast.’’

By the time the storm ends, 3 to 6 inches of rain will have fallen in the Boston area, with 6 to 8 inches in portions of Southeastern Massachusetts, said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Boston has received more than 14 inches of rain this month, the city’s rainiest March on record. The previous high was 11 inches, a mark set in 1953. This week’s rain, the third major storm in two weeks, also made it the second-wettest month in the history of Boston, below the record-setting 17.09 inches of rainfall in August 1955. (Source: Boston Globe)

Story Date: April 1, 2010