For once, Tufts students might be thankful that their college is located on a big hill.
Record-high rainfalls shocked the state last week, producing the worst flooding in 70 years, but the Tufts campus was generally spared of any serious damage.
In an e-mail sent to the Tufts Community on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President of Operations John Roberto updated the status of conditions on the Medford/Somerville campus.
"Several buildings on the Medford/Somerville campus are experiencing water problems from flooded basements to minor roof leaks," he wrote. "A number of our underground utility manholes are flooded as well, however, disruption has only been minor. Facilities is doing everything it can to address problems as they are identified."
Representatives from Tufts Facilities did not respond to repeated requests for comment by press time.
Tufts University Police Department Captain Mark Keith said that the flooding was not an enormous issue on campus.
"I don't think that we have any major areas [of flooding]," Keith said. "I think there have been a number of small areas."
No disturbances were expected for Tufts' commencement exercises, according to Commencement Coordinator Meredith Everson.
"There are no changes in times or locations," Everson said on Tuesday. "Everything is going as planned ... We're hoping it's not an issue."
The city of Somerville was in a state of emergency that Mayor Joseph Curtatone declared from 8 a.m. last Sunday, May 14 until 8 a.m. on Wednseday, May 17, according to Somerville Public Information Officer Meaghan Silverberg and the City of Somerville's Web site.
"A lot of residents have called in with basement floods, and a few businesses have had flooding," Silverberg told the Daily on Monday afternoon. "We are dispatching the appropriate personnel to those
locations."
Silverberg classified the volume of calls to the city's public service hotline as "significantly higher than normal" about flooded basements and flooded catch basins.
At the same time, however, road closures were minimal. The intersection of Hansen and Properzi Streets was the only closure, according to Silverberg, and that intersection was reopened on Monday.
"While some homeowners are still trying to cope with significant damage and inconvenience, Somerville as a whole has come through in good shape," Curtatone said in a statement on the City of Somerville's Web site. "We did see some localized phone outings and power losses, but our flood-related street closures were few in number and short in duration - and we never had to cancel school ... we're very lucky compared to the hard-hit communities in the Merrimack Valley and elsewhere in the Commonwealth."
The towns of Peabody, which is 20 miles northeast of Tufts, and Melrose, which is just six miles northeast, were two of the hardest-hit areas.
Gov. Mitt Romney told the Boston Globe that damage would exceed "tens of millions" in Massachusetts alone.
Aside from massive damages in the northeastern part of the state, there was one fatality registered, a 59-year-old man found dead in a submerged car in Topsfield, Mass.
The major roads and highways affected by the flooding were "predominantly in the northeastern part of the state," Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the Massachusetts State Transportation Department said on Monday afternoon. "Probably the most notable closure was up in Saugus where we had some issues on Route 1. Right now Route 1 is closed from Route 60 in Revere to Route 128 in Peabody."
Such flooding-related closures made transportation a headache for the many commuters who were forced to look for alternate routes into Boston.
"It's had a significant impact, particularly the Route 1 closure," Carlisle said. "Also, some of these secondary roads that have been closed can cause a ripple effect through the entire region."
