The epic flooding that struck the town during the blizzard two weeks ago surprised every long-time resident of our community. We have come to expect the pounding waves that typically inundate Winthrop Beach and the Shore Drive area, but this storm was different.
The catastrophic high tide overwhelmed the seawalls primarily on the bayside, effectively turning Winthrop into an island and bringing dangerous flooding conditions throughout the town.
The extraordinary high level of the ocean water surprised forecasters, who had been telling us even as of that morning that the flooding along the coast would be light to moderate. However, the early afternoon high tide, one of the highest ever recorded in the Boston area, far exceeded their predictions.
Can we put the blame on climate change, which scientists tell us is amplifying the intensity of storms such as these? All we can say for sure is that the evidence of the effects of climate change has been right in front of our eyes this past year, given the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the fires in California.
We ourselves in Winthrop now have had a front row seat to the effects of climate change — and we have to say, it wasn’t pretty.