Sudden Downpour Prompts Flood of 911 Calls in Brookline

Brookline dispatchers were flooded with calls last night after a sudden summer storm filled low-lying streets with rainwater, flooded basements and knocked out traffic signals.

The downpour hit Brookline around 4:30 p.m. and lasted just over an hour, leaving the town with patchy sun and clouds for the rest of the night.

"The 911 calls were going absolutely crazy," said Dispatcher Maureen Kelly, who handled most of the calls last night. "Six o'clock it was done, and it was nice after that."

Kelly said she received reports of flooded garages, basements and streets on Beacon Street, Brington Road, Davis Avenue and St. Paul Street, among others. A garage on the 1800 block of Beacon Street was reported to be under three feet of water and kept emergency crews working until 11 p.m.

Health inspectors were also called to a daycare on the 1600 block of Beacon Street after employees reported basement flooding,

"I guess it was really traumatic for the children," Kelly said. "They had a lot of water in there."

Alan Balsam, the town's public health director, said the daycare called in a professional cleaning crews to clear out the water, and the facility was cleared to reopen by this morning.

Fire crews were also called to a house on Davis Avenue during the storm for reporting of an "electrical burning smell," but Kelly said she had no indication that it was related to a lightening strike. Signals were also knocked out at the intersections of Grove and Newton streets and Clyde and Newton streets in South Brookline, and at Washington Street and Davis Avenue in Brookline Village, which Kelly said was likely related to a lightening strike.

The Fire Department received no reports of downed tree limbs, while Kelly said was "weird" for a storm like last night's.

"They usually go hand and hand," she said.