Heavy rain shut down a major highway and forced road closures in Massachusetts on Thursday, officials said, as forecasters issued flash flood warnings for Boston and nearby counties.
Portions of Interstate 93, a 190-mile-long highway that connects Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, were closed because of flooding, the Massachusetts State Police said. Several vehicles were stranded on the highway because of floodwaters, local news media reported.
The southbound exit in Milton, a suburb south of Boston with a population of about 28,000 people, was closed, and a highway lane leading to Quincy, another suburb, was inaccessible because of flooding early on Thursday, the authorities said. Flash flood warnings, indicating that flooding is taking place or about to happen, were issued for parts of Norfolk, Suffolk and Plymouth counties.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency warned commuters to avoid flooded roads, where vehicles can be swept away in less than two feet of moving water, and to not drive around barriers set up to divert traffic.
By midmorning, between 2 and 4 inches of rain had fallen in the areas covered by the warning, and up to 2 more inches of rain were possible, it said.
Other cities and suburbs that are expected to experience flash flooding include Weymouth, Braintree, Randolph, Stoughton, Dedham, Hingham, Canton, Scituate, Winthrop, Holbrook, Hull, Cohasset and Avon.
Christine Hauser is a Times reporter who writes breaking news stories, features and explainers.
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