Powerful storms moved through Massachusetts and other parts of New England on Monday afternoon, bringing heavy rain, strongs winds and in some cases, even hail.
Severe thunderstorm watches were in effect for most of the region, and warnings were issued for many areas.
The town of Bourne on Cape Cod was particularly hard hit, with its police department posting on Facebook at 2 p.m. that they were inundated with "everything but the kitchen sink."
"We have seen some amazing lightning, torrential rains, and even hail on the larger side," the department said. "Currently, we have multiple areas throughout town experiencing heavy flooding."
They advised motorists to use caution when traveling through areas around the Scenic Highway (Route 6) and Route 28 from the Bourne Bridge through the Otis Rotary area.
"We are also dealing with water in just about every village in town, so please, if you are driving, use a little extra time and distance," the department added.
The Bourne Fire Department also shared a photo of a car stuck in flood waters at the Bourne Rotary in front of the state police barracks.
"Be careful out there this afternoon," the department said in a post. "In addition to the thunder, lightning, and hail, we are getting reports of sections of Scenic Highway are flooding out. Take it slow!"
Neighbors were shocked to see the icy summer storm, saying it took several parts of the Cape by surprise.
“It’s like I just picked up freaking parts of a snowball and I was throwing it at people," Anthony Esposito said.
“I had to slow down, put on my hazards and just cross my fingers that I made it back,” said Lori Mendez, who tucked her dog Lola in the backseat on their drive home as the afternoon's ominous clouds unleased a furious downpour of ice along with heavy flooding in Falmouth and Bourne. "She curled into a little ball and didn’t know what to do with herself.”
“It sounded like somebody was dropping pennies on the car," she added.
Over in Buzzards Bay, Stacey Hammond took video of her backyard, where the ice decimated her plants.
“I saw hail about this size, a little less than a golf ball but it was pretty intense," Hammond said. "It sounded like little hard rocks falling on the back deck.”
Esposito snapped a photo of the nearly-inch-sized hail, which came down while he was working outside.
“I honestly didn’t even know what was going on. It was raining and then it was hailing and then it was raining," he said. "It’s crazy how big it was though.”
As quickly as the storm started, the sun set on a cloud spotted sky, almost as if the afternoon's chaos never happened -- sending these native New Englanders back out to enjoy the cool summer evening.
“The rain was so thick I could see the rain all the way down the canal and I couldn’t even see the bridges it was that thick," one resident said.
“After the storm I went shopping and it seemed like it never happened," Hammond said. "It was very strange.”
“That's Massachusetts though. It goes from winter to summer in not even 16 hours,” Esposito quipped.
While the storm has ended, there were some massive puddles on the side of the roads, and drivers were cautioned to take it slow to avoid the leftover pooling.
