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With melting snow and pouring rain, comes dangerous flooding

LOWELL, Mass. — Snow banks are melting all over New England and with intense rainfall come concerns of flooding.

For the thousands of drivers in Lowell, it's already been a messy commute. But that's nothing compared to what's coming over the weekend.

City engineer Nicolas Bosonetto says with freezing temperatures on the way and ice a major concern, getting the water off the roads is even more of a safety issue.

That’s why city crews have been hard at work all week.

“For the last 3 days, the Department of Public Works has been going around removing snow from the catch basins. That way the melting snow and the rain water can get into the catch basins, into the drainage flooding and reduce the localized street flooding,” Bosonetto said.

There were steady streams of water flowing into drains before heavy rain even started in Lowell’s 100-year flood zone Friday.

Crews were also checking the city's underground drainage system, which they say can often get clogged with debris, snow and even beavers.

“Throughout the year, we have teams that go out, take out the beaver dams, take out the beavers, make sure the culverts are flowing smoothly. All reports are that everything is flowing smoothly,” Bosonetto said.

The city is asking anyone who sees a clogged drain or flooding issue to give them a call or email them on the government's website.

MORE: Preparations underway in Winthrop as fears of flooding continue to rise