Flood of 1987

In the April 1987 flood the Concord River reached its highest level of the year, 118 feet above sea level, on April 9 at 11 p.m. The Civil Defense department under Director John F. Riel answered 104 flood calls and helped 27 families leave their homes, six of them by boat, and the town expected $300,000 in federal reimbursement for its flood costs. The Rogers Street culvert at the Middlesex Canal failed and was replaced, and the flood did considerable damage to the sewer pump stations and streets. Flood reimbursement accounts for Rogers Street, Avilla Street, Whipple Road, Elsie Avenue, the treatment plant road, the sewer department and Shawsheen Road still held $38,070 in May 1992, when Town Manager Robert A. Mercier's administration had a special town meeting transfer it to emergency repairs of the River Street bridge.

Other floods on the two rivers: 1936, 1955, 1968, 1979, 2010.

People

• John F. Riel: Civil Defense Director, whose department answered 104 flood calls and helped evacuate 27 families in the April 1987 flood.
• Robert A. Mercier: Town Manager, who reported the 1992 emergency repairs to the River Street bridge paid partly from flood reimbursement accounts.

References

1. Billerica Annual Report for 1987: Civil Defense (April 1987 flood, 104 calls, 27 families evacuated, six by boat, $300,000 reimbursement), Water Department (river at 118 feet on April 9), Rogers Street culvert.
2. Billerica Annual Report for 1992: special town meeting of May 12-14, 1992, Article 8, $38,070 transferred from flood reimbursement accounts to repair the River Street bridge.