Wellesley water pumps maxed out

By Caitlin Castello, Town Correspondent

Wellesley firefighters labored to pump out flooded basements today as rain relentlessly pummeled the region.

As of late afternoon, the Wellesley Fire Department received calls from 128 homes that needed water to be pumped from the basement, said Fire Chief Richard DeLorie.

Forty-seven of those homes were still waiting for fire crews to respond to pump the water.

“We are straight out,” said DeLorie. “We are busy.”

No homes, schools, or buildings in Wellesley are in need of evacuation, but the water pumps are working at full capacity, said DeLorie.

“We are doing our best to be cautious of where we are pumping, everything is saturated,” he said. “The pumps we have deployed are at a standstill, they are getting overrun with water.”

Joe Duggan, superintendent of Wellesley Water and Sewers, said this is the worst rainstorm the town has seen since 2006.

“What we are doing right now is shepherding, staying at our pump stations to make sure all the pumps continue to work,” said Duggan.

Caitlin Castello can be reached at caitlincastello@gmail.com.