Emergency personnel in western Massachusetts are keeping a close eye on river levels. That's after heavy rains forced road closures and the evacuation of some homes.
A flood watch across the region remains in effect until Tuesday morning.
Water levels rose rapidly Monday morning on the Mill River through Williamsburg. The surge led to fire and rescue officials clearing 7 or 8 houses.
"When the water came up, it was sweeping through the houses. A couple of them had a foot of water in the living room," said Cory McGill, a captain with the Williamsburg Fire Department. "So the Western Mass Tech-Rescue Team came out and gave us a hand rescuing a couple people, getting them out."
McGill said everyone was safe and with no injuries. Emergency officials also tried to secure the houses where no one was home.
"Propane tanks are floating down the river. Flipped over a few, so we shut off what we could and mitigated all hazards that we could," he said.
Some residents, including McGill, said the unusually high water levels are similar to those brought by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
"It was definitely Irene-caliber up there," McGill said, after returning to the fire station.
The high waters continued downriver to Northampton, where they flooded parts of the Elks Lodge parking lot and spilled across a city park, Maines Field.
Emergency responders there were called to help move a man to safety.
"There was a gentleman here where we are now, who lives down here. He doesn't have a house. So where he parks his vehicle was in the water. So he was just removed out of the water. But he's sitting over there," Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper said. "He's OK now. And I think he's just going to wait for the water to come down."
With his car surrounded by water a few hundred yards away, Eric Harkins downplayed the seriousness of the situation.
"Just kind of rescue — not danger, just higher ground, you know?" Harkins said. "Getting out of the torrent here, torrential. I guess this is monsoons in New England, hey?"
National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Leatham said residents can expect continued flood effects until later this week.
"The impacts are going to kind of continue, not only even when the rainfall has ended, but at least over the next couple of days where there will still be impacts from river flooding," he said. "The fortunate thing is that it will be more hit and miss through the afternoon [Tuesday]."
Leatham said residents should take precautions while on the road — such as avoiding bodies of water and abiding by any barricades or closed roadways.
NEPM's Caitlin Reardon contributed to this report.
