A total of 12 people are now dead due to Winter Storm Grayson that plowed up the coast of the NorthEast on Thursday, January 4th,

bringing with it extremely cold temperatures, a foot of snow, and horrible flooding.
Grayson was classified as a bomb cyclone storm. A bomb cyclone is an intense winter storm that resembles a hurricane because its pressure will drop as low as hurricane winds. The winds during the storm were very strong reaching winds up to 40 mph. The storm also dropped a total of 13.4 inches of snow which averages to 2-3 inches per hour during the storm.
What made Winter Storm Grayson so difficult was not the winds or the snow, it was the intense flooding that occured after due to record high tides, reco

rded at 15 feet. The flooding was worsened by strong winds which pushed flooding over many streets along the Massachusetts coastline and prevented clean up crews from getting their job done.
Senior Tina Gordon shared that her sister, who lives on Hampton Beach, had left her car parked outside during the storm and the flooding totaled her car and left it encased in solid ice.
“The day after the storm I heard on the news of cars being damaged due to the flooding but I didn’t think it would happen to my sister! I felt really bad, her car

was completely destroyed because the salt and sand on the roads got into the water and when it froze it ate away at the underneath of the car and created rust.” said Gordon.

There was flooding all throughout the state of Massachusetts. The Weather Channel reported that there were cars seen floating in Chatham, MA, flood waters surrounding homes, and flooding basements in Hull, MA. There were cars stuck in flood waters and ice in Quincy, MA, a boardwalk submerged in Sandwich, MA, and Plum Island was left impassable with families stranded on the Basin Side.
Another senior, Jill O’Neill, who lives on Salisbury beach, said that “The water came all the way up to my driveway! It was definitely at least a few inches of water and the wind was shaking my whole house. My car also got stuck in the snow and ice and I couldn’t get to work.”
Senior Jill O’Neill was not the only one whose car got trapped in the snow making her unable to get to work. Another senior, Shannon Lanphear said “I left my car parked on the side of the road and when the snow plows were trying to clear the roads they completely plowed my car into the snow! This left my car completely stuck in the snow and I couldn’t get it out so I missed my shift at work.”
There was so much snow that it seemed like the snow plows didn’t even know what to do with all of it. When trying to clear the roads large piles of snow were created at many corners. This resulted in an obstructed view for drivers and one senior, Emily Wood, said “Over the weekend when I was driving I often found myself stuck at corners trying to pull out and not being able to see, and one time I was almost hit by another car because I couldn’t see it with the snow piles being so high.”
Along with the snow and flooding, the freezing temperatures froze the roads, creating a layer of black ice that made driving for young drivers difficult and dangerous.
Senior Evan McParland was driving on Route One a couple days after the storm. With the roads still bad and not completely cleared, McParland is not positive if he hit the snow wrong, or a patch of black ice, but McParland spun off Route One and hit a telephone pole.
“My parents always told me to stay off the roads after storms and although I was driving the speed limit and the accident wasn’t bad, I underestimated how bad the roads really were. I lost all control of my car and spun off the road into a telephone pole. I will never forget that feeling of having no control over the car, it was like the car was doing whatever it wanted and I had to sit back and watch myself go into a pole.” said McParland.
Overall winter storm Grayson left its mark and damages on the state of Massachusetts. The combination of snow, flooding, wind and extreme temperatures, left the state with icy roads, cars trapped in ice due to flood waters freezing, snow covered grounds with snow piles taller than cars and even people, and messy roads left to the clean up crews to clear.