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Rain heads toward Mass. dam

TAUNTON, Mass. - Schools and businesses were closed for a second day and thousands of residents still couldn't go home Wednesday as a weakened timber dam threatened to give way and spill a 6-foot surge of water into downtown Taunton.

The danger may not end even if crews safely drain excess water behind Whittenton Pond Dam. Forecasters said a weather system now in the Midwest could hit the already waterlogged region this weekend and Hurricane Wilma could also affect New England after speeding across Florida.

"The good news: dry weather until Saturday," Mayor Robert G. Nunes said at a midday news conference. "The bad news: significant rain on Sunday."

The wooden dam buckled earlier in the week under the pressure of the heavy rain that flooded parts of the Northeast, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents. The threat worsened after some of the dam's timbers broke and washed away.

Nunes said crews were easing pressure on the dam by allowing water through it and another dam farther upstream. The water in Lake Sabbatia, the reservoir above Whittenton Pond Dam, had dropped by more than 6 inches since Tuesday but remained several feet above normal.

Nunes could not say when residents and business owners would be allowed back in Taunton, a working-class city of 50,000 about 40 miles south of Boston.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:20:19]