This story was updated at 3 p.m.
Coastal flooding from the latest winter storm prompted several road closures Wednesday on the Seacoast.
State crews are busy midday repairing seawalls along Ocean Boulevard in North Hampton and Rye that were damaged by the high surf.
Large waves pushed rocks and debris — including a lobster trap or two — across a number of stretches of the Seacoast route.
At midday, state Department of Transportation frontloaders continued to repair stretches of Route 1A at Sawyer’s Beach and Bass Beach.
Police in Hampton said mid-morning that part of Route 101 at Landing Road near the beach was closed. Authorities ask residents to avoid the area. Stretches of Ocean Boulevard continue to have minor flooding this afternoon.
Jamie Sullivan, Hampton’s town manager, is also encouraging people to stay away from the beach until further notice.
“The water is at such a level that it’s unsafe for folks to drive through there, we’ve had to assist some folks who have driven into there and get them out of high water,” he said.
Sullivan said emergency responders have helped about 13 people evacuate from their homes because of flooding concerns, and the extent of the damage will be evaluated after the water recedes.
The Hampton Academy gym was opened to provide shelter for people who had to leave their homes, Sullivan said.
Further north, town officials in Franklin and Holderness said they haven’t had any flooding or reports of damage from the storm. In Pittsburg, police captain John LeBlanc said high winds, snow and rain have caused trees to fall down, blocking roads and causing power outages. Some roads were temporarily closed, but they’ve been reopened, LeBlanc said.
“We've just been out throughout the day just checking on the elderly population within the town, making sure everyone is good to go, people who have generators, the generators are up and running,” he said.
![The UMass campus overlooking academic buildings and the W.E.B. Du Bois library [far left].](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/27e95cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa9%2F56%2F25581c7a4eb1bd73805ad27419e4%2Fimg-0521.jpg)