This winter storm that pummeled the Northeast left multiple houses collapsed and condemned in Massachusetts, and it had nothing to do with the multiple feet of snow that fell throughout the region.
Rather, heavy beach erosion along the coast of the state was the culprit. Sensational drone footage shot by Brandon Clement showed massive waves stirred up by the nor'easter slamming into beachfront homes in New England.
A devastating combo of massive waves and high tide sent coastal floodwaters slamming into the foundations of homes all along the coastal region of the state, such as Sandwich, in Cape Cod. Clement's drone footage also captured the widespread destruction of homes as the waters spewed debris along the beach.
Multiple homes along the coast were completely toppled over and collapsed following the storm, which unleashed hurricane-force winds to the state along with the 30-plus inches of snow that many locations received.
As inland Massachusetts residents were cleaning up to 2 feet of snow off their properties in areas such as Lowell, fellow Massachusetts residents just two hours east saw a far different side to the storm.
Without a single snowflake falling in the area, multiple homes in Cape Cod were so heavily damaged that they were condemned by local officials. One home's foundation appeared to collapse after the ground beneath it was washed away.
"Once again we were flooded, probably about 4 feet deep. Again wrecked the garage, the utility room, the washer and dryer, those will have to be replaced," Scituate resident Mary Colleen Murphy told AccuWeather. "It's pretty wild, it's amazing. Nothing like it. Very, very windy. You wonder if you'll have heat all night."
But, she noted, despite the wild weather, "It's a pretty cool place to live."
Murphy set her alarm for 1:30 a.m. on Monday night because she knew that's when high tide would arrive, bringing its most destructive waves with the storm. She had moved her cars down the road and said at the time that the water wasn't on the street yet.
Still, her passion for her hometown was unshaken.
"Within two hours, everything was 4 feet under. I'm not sure about today, but it looks pretty violent out there," she said. "This is a great place to live!"
Along Salt Marsh Road in Sandwich, multiple properties were destroyed by beach erosion from this week's storm. Years ago, those homes were built with the beach seemingly much farther away.
Michael Bottey, who told WBZ that he is one of just three year-round residents on the street, said his home is near the houses that are now completely tilted and balancing over the water.
"When I built this house 17 years ago, there was probably another [several] feet of beach from what there is now," Bottey told WBZ. "It's definitely accelerating and it's scary."
Those hurricane-force winds also sent massive waves toppling into neighborhoods in Winthrop, a neighboring city to Boston along the coast. The waves crashed over road barriers, as video from Massachusetts State Police showed, forcing troopers to close the lanes of Winthrop Parkway on Tuesday. Floodwater also rushed into neighboring streets and rendered much of the area impassable.
On Plum Island, located in the northeastern portion of the state, homeowner Stan Sacks told Boston 25 News that he had never seen damage from coastal flooding like this before.
"This is the worst it's ever been," Sacks said. "The whole property is gone at this point, the fence has been torn down, there's about 3-4 inches of water, sand and mud in the entire basement or first level of the house."