By having the lowest elevation point in Worcester (aside from Lake Quinsigamond), Green Island has served as a “catch-all” bucket, collecting all the rainwater from Worcester’s higher elevated areas, and resulting in extreme flooding in the area. I interviewed Lorraine Laurie, the unofficial mayor of Green Island, to learn more about the neighborhood’s flooding crisis.
In the beginning of our interview, Laurie told me about the neighborhood’s long lasting struggle with the flooding crisis. The flooding was at its worst in the 1980s, which led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to construct a major sewer project. Laurie recalled that the EPA predicted “it would not totally eliminate flooding but 75% of the flooding issue that we see here”, and that the project “ took down housing and businesses to put in sewer pipes the size of school buses” (Laurie, Lorraine. Personal Interview. 5 April 2023). However, this project has an exception of a “100-year storm”. A “100-year storm” describes a rainfall event that statistically has a 1% chance of occurring each year (Moulton, What if it hit here? 2017). According to the city of Worcester’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan, Green Island is located within a “100-year floodplain”, meaning the neighborhood has this risk of extreme flooding each year. This huge project helped the major flooding issues in Green Island for a while, but Laurie says “the fact of the matter is this big sewer project was done in the 80s, so there must be some sort of deterioration after 40 some odd years…”(Laurie, Lorraine. Personal Interview. 5 April 2023).
Although “100-year storms” are not very common, Laurie alluded to several devastating storms, specifically referencing the 2016 storm she called a “100-year storm”. Within the first 24 hours, this storm dropped a total of 8.87 inches. (Moulton, 2017). One essential place in the neighborhood that was destroyed was the Green Island Neighborhood Center. The Green Island Neighborhood Center provides the community with support through services such as food pantries and family counseling (and much more!). However, the Green Island Neighborhood Center, “was almost put out of existence” due to the storm, and took almost 3 years to reopen. (Laurie, Lorraine. Personal Interview. 5 April 2023).
(Green Island Neighborhood Center Building in Crompton Park, Worcester, MA. Photo: Dannyella Vasquez)
Despite such a major loss for the community, Laurie said that people were “kind of used to the flooding” and knew how to take care of each other (Laurie, Lorraine. Personal Interview. 5 April 2023). In one instance, people helped one another move their fully submerged cars from Quinsigamond Avenue. At one point in the interview, Laurie said that after a hurricane a few years ago, people were out on the same streets with boats, helping other members of the Green Island community.
Although the flooding has been “really really bad,” Laurie was hopeful that, with the city’s recent allocation of funds to develop the new Green Infrastructure Master Plan, Green Island’s flooding crisis will be taken care of. (Laurie, Lorraine. Personal Interview. 5 April 2023). In this master plan, Worcester is allocating 1.6 million dollars to develop drainage, as well as things like rain gardens and bioswales (HERO 27). Rain gardens are low-lying areas designed to hold and soak rainwater. Bioswales are similar to rain gardens, but are installed along streets to prevent flash flooding (HERO 29). Like many other Green Islanders, Laurie is worried that this plan cannot be implemented successfully due to the lack of space in the neighborhood. However, residents are excited that the city is starting to take preventative measures to combat Green Island’s flood problem.
Interviewing Lorraine Laurie has been my favorite part of my story map, not only because she’s great to talk to, but also because I was able to learn more about Green Island’s flooding history and how the community has responded to that in unity. After this interview, I feel as though I could add “Green Island’s Encyclopedia” to the long list of things that Ms. Laurie is known for being in this community. From her, I can learn so much more about Green Island, but also what it means to be an active member in the community. Despite hardships endured such as flooded basements, submerged cars, and thigh-high water levels, the neighborhood continues to show true character and community. Green Island can be “an example for other places,” Clark Professor John Rogan claimed (Personal Interview. 22 March 2023). It can show “the world how to manage water” and how unity breeds resiliency (Largess, Bob. Personal Interview. 31 March 2023).
Works Cited
Bitar, S. (n.d.). Worcester Elevation Contours Map. Urban Flooding in the Green Island Neighborhood: Addressing water management problems in Worcester. photograph. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1a804d8cfca8426996ab98b372b0d288.
City of Worcester. (n.d.). Mass.gov. Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan: Findings & Recommendations June 2019. https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/09/25/Worcester%20Report.pdf
Fetterman, A., & Laurie, L. (2023, April 5). Flooding Crisis in the Green Island Neighborhood. personal.
Geron, N. (Ed.). (n.d.-a). Bioswales. photograph.
Geron, N. (Ed.). (n.d.-b). Rain Gardens. photograph.
Healey, M. (2018a). Two flooded vehicles sat under the railroad bridge on Cambridge Street in Worcester. These photos show how bad the flooding was in Worcester on Tuesday. photograph, Worcester. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/17/these-photos-and-videos-show-how-bad-flooding-was-worcester-today/4ILPePO4cncVsTw8VBjzyM/story.html.
Healey, M. (2018b). Worcester firefighters rescued a man from his flooded vehicle on Southgate Street in Worcester. These photos show how bad the flooding was in Worcester on Tuesday. photograph, Worcester. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/17/these-photos-and-videos-show-how-bad-flooding-was-worcester-today/4ILPePO4cncVsTw8VBjzyM/story.html.
Kleinfelder, N. (2019b). Figure 1-B: 100-year flood zone. Worcester Report Environmental preparedness water issues 2019. photograph, Worcester. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/09/25/Worcester%20Report.pdf.
Kleinfelder, N. (Ed.). (2019a). Concentration of Reported Flooding Events . Worcester Report Environmental preparedness water issues 2019. photograph, Worcester; City of Worcester. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2019/09/25/Worcester%20Report.pdf.
Largess, B. (2023, March 31). Bob Larges on Water. personal.
Martin, D., & Rogan , J. (n.d.). (rep.). HERO 2021 Sustainable Worcester (pp. 22–31).
Moulton, C. (2017, September 5). What if it hit here?. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/worcester/2017/09/04/worcester-devastation-in-1955-pales-in-comparison-to-harveys-50-inches-of-rain/18849508007/
Rogan, J. (2023, March 22). John Rogan on how Green Island can be a Model. personal.
Vazquez, D. (n.d.). Green Island Neighborhood Center Building in Crompton Park. photograph, Worcester.