WORCESTER, Mass. - There were multiple reports of flooded roadways across the state, including at the Southwest Cutoff on Route 20 in Worcester which caused several cars to get stuck.

"Getting stuck under there is a very dangerous proposition," Worcester Fire Department Deputy Chief Martin Dyer said.

What You Need To Know

  • Multiple roadways in Worcester were flooded after Thursday mornings storm 
  • Route 20 was closed for a period of time as four people were assisted out of their vehicles after being submerged in the water 
  • The Worcester Fire Department responded to 100 calls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
  • First responders remind people to "Turn around, don’t drown"

The sight at Route 20 of a flooded road was similar to other roadways across the city of Worcester. The Worcester Fire Department (WFD) said they assisted four people out of their cars and luckily no one was injured in the incident. 

"One person got checked out by EMS, but was not transported from that," Dyer said.

Route 20 wasn't the only road in the city where cars got stuck. The WFD reported they responded to about 100 calls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

"We have 21 companies and when that kind of volume of calls comes in, you are just running from one to the next," Dyer said. "So they did a really nice job triaging and getting everyone what they needed."

The City of Worcester said they knew there was a potential for flooded roads, so they tried to prepare for the worst.

"What we ended up getting was four inches of rain which really taxed the system," Department of Public Works Commissioner Jay Fink said.

Fink added the City's preparations worked and they had crews out all day Thursday.

"We didn't have any system failure," Fink said. "All the pump stations operated as designed. You can prepare for anything you want but Mother Nature is going to throw a curveball where you are going to get more water than the system can handle and it's like 'How do we react? How do we keep everyone safe and how do we clean up after the fact?"

Route 20 which was closed and detoured, reopened later in the day, but city leaders remind people to always use extra caution to avoid what could have been a much worse situation.

"When you see this kind of amount of rain coming down as fast as it is coming down, you should anticipate flooding and if we can avoid going out at all, we should until things settle down," Dyer said.

First responders remind people of the saying "Turn around, don't drown," so if you see a flooded road way, you should not go through it.