ATHOL — Jack Stafford, 67, awoke at 4 a.m. Saturday to a splintering bang that sounded like a car crash. He leaped from his bed and raced out the front door of his riverside apartment at 28 Morton Meadows, but found nothing of the sort.
Mere feet from Stafford’s back door, however, massive chunks of ice roiled in a churning Millers River, which had overflowed its banks by a good 10 feet.
“The ice was hitting so hard it woke me up. I came outside and it was devastating,” Stafford said Tuesday, standing at his back door overlooking the Millers River — still bursting with jagged ice and broken tree branches.
Ice broke free from somewhere upriver early Saturday morning, sweeping away three steel brackets securing a 10-inch water main beneath the Exchange Street Bridge and causing localized flooding, prompting emergency officials to evacuate tenants from Morton Meadows complex on South Main Street, including Stafford.
By 7 a.m., “the water was up here in the street. The pavement has cracked since then,” he said, pointing to a long crack splitting a road behind his apartment. “It was moving so fast. The ice right there is like 10½ inches thick.”
Stafford, a retired small business owner, is ambulatory. But for other tenants, some of whom suffer complicated medical problems, evacuation posed a severe difficulty. At least one of Stafford’s neighbors was taken to the hospital as a precaution, and a few had to be transported to safety elsewhere by ambulance.
Three days later, all 26 evacuated tenants have been allowed back into the complex — 11 returned Monday, the rest on Tuesday — which is operated by the Athol and Orange housing authorities. Morton Meadows was not damaged by flooding or ice, and no one was hurt.
Emergency officials have warned tenants to be ready to evacuate again if necessary, and sandbags remain stacked against doors to prevent flooding.
“They’re supposed to let the water run again tonight,” Stafford said, referring to planned water releases from upstream dams at Tully and Birch Hill, managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Local emergency officials are closely monitoring the situation.
Water was released following Saturday’s evacuation. But the Millers River “has frozen since they let it out,” Stafford said. In more than a decade of living in town, he’s never seen anything like it.
Snowfall predicted for Tuesday could complicate the situation, and Stafford fears that warmer temperatures forecast later in the week will cause fresh ice to break free and surge downriver once again — causing the problem to repeat, possibly with catastrophic consequences. Stafford has renters insurance, but not flooding insurance.
“I think they should use charges. At least break it up,” Stafford said. “We have snow coming through, and it’s going to freeze. It’s crazy. But what can you do?”
For those who’d like to help, Stafford said to “wish everybody luck. Let’s get over it, and get on with our lives.”
The emergency response to Saturday’s ice jam was strong and effective, Stafford said. Working with rescue crews, the housing authority immediately helped move everyone to safety.
Evacuated residents were placed with family, friends, in a local nursing home or lodging by The Salvation Army Athol Corps, Athol-Orange Housing Authority and United Way.
Morton Meadows’ office was bustling with a full staff Tuesday.
“We have told everyone to be ready to evacuate,” said Athol-Orange Housing Authority Executive Director Christi Martin, who was among those in the office. Martin said safety of tenants is “top priority,” noting that Athol Fire Department is keeping tabs on everything.
Many who live in Morton Meadows “are elderly and disabled. On a good day, there are health concerns,” Martin said.
While ice jams happen occasionally, Connie Parmenter, who has worked at the housing authority since the 1980s, said this is the worst in recent history. She noted Morton Meadows, which opened in the 1950s, has been evacuated before.
Ice jams typically happen in the spring, when the ice isn’t so thick, and “it’s not usually this bad,” Parmenter said. “That’s the difference.”
A few miles upriver, the Exchange Street Bridge remained barricaded to automobile traffic. Broken pieces of the bridge were frozen in ice near North Orange Road.
According to Athol Town Manager Shaun A. Suhoski, the state Department of Transportation must examine any damage to the Exchange Street Bridge before it is reopened to vehicles. MassDOT workers could be seen inspecting the bridge Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Selectboard Vice Chairman William J. Caldwell said people could use the Chestnut Hill Avenue bridge and Crescent Street to cross the river.
You can reach Andy Castillo
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