Johnny Marcano was on a 10-minute drive from his uncle’s home in Dorchester to his own in Roxbury when a rush of water swept through a bridge underpass at Quincy and Ceylon streets in Dorchester at 1:35 p.m. today.
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“A smaller car had just driven ahead and the water didn’t look that deep,†Marcano said, adding that the success of the car ahead of him prompted him to plunge ahead. It did not work.
“By the time I started revving out, the motor had drunk some water and shut off,’’ said the 18-year-old Marcano, who had to call in his father, Louis, for help pushing the sodden car out of the traffic lane of the busy street. Part of the hood of Marcano’s Honda CR-V was submerged and water seeped onto the floor underneath the back and front seats.
Marcano was one of numerous people in Boston who suddenly found their streets and sidewalks flooded when up to two inches of rainfall suddenly poured down on the city.
Charlie Foley, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said parts of Dorchester — near where Marcano had his watery encounter — were under three feet of water. And, Foley said, more rain is yet to come later today.
“We expect another round of heavy showers and thunderstorms this afternoon into this evening.â€
On Beacon Hill, Charles Street quickly became a paved version of its neighbor, the Charles River.
“There was a small river going down the street, but it wasn’t anything too scary,†said Erin Ellis, an employee at Black Ink. She said the water in the street was 4 or 5 inches deep.
In Hyde Park, Melissa Martinez, a worker at the Stop and Shop on Truman Parkway, said customers were complaining of two-foot-deep water outside.
The Boston Water and Sewer Commission received 29 calls reporting street flooding in Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roxbury and other low-lying parts of the city said Danielle Domingos, a commission spokeswoman.
She said crews were dispatched to the trouble spots to make sure storm drains were clear. She said the spot where Marcano was flooded out is a chronic problem.
“That’s the lowest spot in the city,’’ she said. “We are always having problems there.’’
The National Weather Service issued flood advisories and flash flood warnings for various areas in the state. At one point, it issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Boston and surrounding areas, saying a tornado might even be possible. That warning was canceled at 1:44 p.m.
The forecasters warned that small streams, urban areas, highways, streets, underpasses, and other poor drainage and low-lying areas could be inundated. Forecasters also warned of a strong thunderstorm sweeping through the North Shore area.
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Globe correspondents Jasper Craven, Melissa Hanson, and Nikita Lalwani contributed to this report. Jasper can be reached at jasper.craven@globe.com or on Twitter @Jasper_Craven Melissa can be reached at melissa.hanson@globe.com or on Twitter @Melissa__Hanson Alyssa A. Botelho can be reached at alyssa.botelho@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlyssaABotelho. Nikita Lalwani can be reached at nikita.lalwani@globe.com.
