Standing against the rain and wind in his yellow rain boots, Giovanni's owner Jason Gentry stacked sandbags and rubber mats against the front door of his Salem restaurant.
He watched as cars sloshed along the puddle that was Jefferson Street, creating wakes that crashed against his building.
Despite 4 to 5 inches of rain as of yesterday afternoon, severe flooding in many North Shore communities and a federal state of emergency in Massachusetts, a sign in the window declared that Giovanni's was open for business.
Gentry watched as water flowed under the door of his livelihood, and he reached for the wet vacuum.
"We stay on top of it," he said. "We're not going to close because of water."
Customers could pick up orders at the side door, where flooding was minimal, and deliveries would start at 5 p.m. as usual.
"If I have to, I'll bring food to the customers' cars," he said.
Just as the North Shore had dried up from the storm two weeks ago, road crews, business owners and residents met a second round of closed streets, overflowing sewers, scattered debris and soaked basements.
John Perry and Stephen Osgood of the Salem Department of Public Works blocked off Canal Street with their truck and watched a familiar scene as the water reached depths of about 2 feet outside McDonald's.
"We know what to expect," Perry said, "but it doesn't make it any easier. We'll probably be here all night."
Last time, the storm targeted the Topsfield and Ipswich area with up to 10 inches, said Arthur Francis, Salem State College climate professor. This time, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott took the brunt with about 5 inches.
But with more than 14 inches so far this month, the rainfall stacks up to the 16 inches in May 2006, when much of the region was underwater on Mother's Day.
"This one is sort of second place," Francis said. "It's really significant in terms of storms we've had."
The city shut down Peabody Square around 3 p.m., including Russell, Pierpont and Foster streets — where police also had to tow a car in the late morning as the road started to swell.
"It's the usual suspects," Peabody Sgt. Scott Richards said. "I don't think it's quite as bad as it was a couple weeks ago."
But that's not to say any of it was good.
Treacherous flooding
In addition to Canal Street, Salem saw flooding along Bridge Street near the commuter-rail station, as well as Harmony Grove Road near the Peabody line.
Swampscott Road was also closed, and a resident said rocks and sediment washed down from a neighbor's driveway and created traffic problems.
And there was an element of peril to this storm, as state police were called to assist a trapped motorist on Interstate 95.
According to state police, at 3:09 p.m., Trooper David Martinelle from the Newbury barracks, who had completed his day shift and was traveling home, and Trooper Patrick Ahl from the Danvers barracks, who had just begun his evening shift, responded to calls for a woman trapped in a vehicle that was rapidly filling with water at the Danvers-Peabody line.
"Upon arrival, the troopers located the vehicle floating on the shoulder of the roadway and becoming submerged in the rapidly flooding area," a release from the state police says. "The troopers realized that the operator was trapped inside the vehicle and could not escape."
At that time, Ahl waded through the chest-deep water to free the driver, bringing her to a safe location where she was treated by responding emergency personnel. She was subsequently taken to Union Hospital in Lynn for treatment.
Ahl sustained minor injuries during the rescue effort, state police said. Similar scenarios played out elsewhere last night.
While danger wasn't widespread, trouble was ubiquitous as waterfront communities nevertheless braced for an "astronomically high tide" around noon, Swampscott Public Works Director Gino Cresta said.
"Our sewer system is overtaxed," Cresta said. Crews were out fixing a broken culvert at Shepherd and Ocean streets as sewer water bubbled up in the middle of the road.
In the basement of the Shetland Park industrial complex by Salem Harbor, Knowatom CEO Francis Vigeant considered himself lucky it was only rainwater, and not sewage, that seeped into his office. The company develops elementary school curriculum packages, and Vigeant saw at least 4 inches of water cover his floor in a matter of 15 minutes.
"It's like a flash flood," he said. "There were rapids and chunks of boxes and packing peanuts floating all over the place. You can actually see the water coming toward you like an incoming tide."
Although his company can afford the $15,000 to run large fans for a week and bring in industrial humidifiers so mold doesn't grow, he knows many business owners don't have that luxury.
"It's one of those things where you start to wonder if you need to move to another building or community," he said. "If you're uprooted for a week at a time, it can be disastrous. There's a lot of business where, if they have to close their doors for a few days, they might have to close their doors forever."
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salemnews.com.
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