$27 Million in Flood Damages Prevented by Corps of Engineers Projects

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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO STATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

$27 Million in Flood Damages Prevented by Corps of Engineers Projects

CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, Apr. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Flood damages amounting to more than $27 million were prevented during the March storms by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams and local protection projects in New England. The Corps also lent assistance to the New England region by providing sandbags, liaison officers, and inspection teams.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000404/ACELOGO )

"The events from March 5 to March 30 brought a mixed bag of precipitation which amounted to roughly a five to ten year storm," said Col. Brian E. Osterndorf, District Engineer for the Corps in New England. "During this time we dispersed 85,000 sandbags to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and provided liaison officers at the Massachusetts state bunker."

On Mar. 5-7, one to three feet of snow fell over southern New England. On Mar. 22, approximately two to four inches of rain fell over the region. River levels rose above flood stage within the Blackstone river basin and near flood stage within the Thames river basin in south central Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. A total of more than $22.6 million in damages were prevented in Massachusetts, $10 million of which were prevented by the Town Brook tunnel local protection project in Quincy, Mass., $1.7 million in Connecticut, and $3.5 million in Rhode Island. Of the over $27 million of damages prevented, 52 percent is attributed to Corps dams and 48 percent to local protection projects.

The Corps inspected coastal projects in Milford, Conn., in Swansea, Quincy and Revere, Mass., and in Hampton, N.H. Hurricane barriers in Stamford and New London, Conn., in Pawtucket, R.I., and New Bedford, Saco-Camp Ellis and Wells Beach, Maine, as well as the Charles River Dam in Boston were also inspected.

Technical assistance was provided to the towns of Woburn and Lowell, Mass., during the storm.

Since the disastrous floods of the 1930s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has constructed a network of 36 dams and 91 local flood protection projects in New England. These facilities were constructed at a cost of $538 million. They have prevented damages of almost $3 billion.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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