The remnants of Elsa impacted transportation Friday, as much of New England remained under a tropical storm warning and flash flood watches.
By midday Friday, many roads and some stretches of highway were flooded due to the heavy rain.
"The rain was absolutely insane," said Ashland resident Peter Abdou. "It was awful, it just didn't stop all day today, there was nothing we could do, just sit and watch the water rise."
The Sudbury River behind Abdou's home just kept rising all day.
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"Basement completely flooded, it's underwater, everything's floating right now," he said.
In nearby Framingham, it was a flooded Route 9 that caught some drivers off guard.
"I didn't know how deep the water is," said one of the drivers who got trapped and needed a helping hand from law enforcement.
"The water was so deep, I'm glad they were able to help us out," another driver said.
In Ashland, the fire department said it had responded to about six homes and businesses for flooding issues.
Flooding, heavy wind and thunderstorms also caused service disruptions on the MBTA. The train lines in Haverhill, Framingham, Middleboro/Lakeville and Worcester were all running behind schedule Friday morning. Trains in Natick operated at reduced speed through a single track area because of flooding.
But experts said it’s best to avoid travel altogether in weather like this.
Our weather team issued a First Alert for the region as it remains under a warning for the impact of tropical storm Elsa. Flash flood watches are also in effect for much of New England, with the exception of near the Canadian border.
The National Weather Service is warning people: "turn around, don’t drown." Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other storm-related hazard.
In Falmouth, Fire Chief Timothy Smith said officials are asking everybody to stay put during the storm. But if you must travel, officials warn drivers not to drive around the barriers blocking a flooded road.
Click here for what to do in a flash flood.
The tropical storm caused dozens of flight delays and cancellations at Boston's Logan Airport Friday morning.
Most of the cancellations at Logan were smaller flights to the Cape in the Islands. As of Friday morning, about a dozen flights leaving Boston were delayed, which were bound for places including New York City, Denver and Fort Myers, Florida.
Arrivals to Logan was a different story. Almost two dozen inbound flights were delayed and dozens more that were supposed to arrive Friday in Boston were canceled.
More than 300 flights heading into, out of, or just within the U.S. have been canceled, according to flightaware.com. More than 30 were delayed, with most of those domestic delays coming from Miami, Chicago and Denver.
Meanwhile, Hy-Line Cruises announced Thursday night that all its ferries from Martha's Vineyard and Hyannis, and all its Inter-Island ferries between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard have been cancelled for Friday due to Tropical Storm Elsa.
"We were trying to fly out today, our flight was at 12, it got cancelled till tomorrow so we ended up getting on the ferry and so now we're renting a car and driving back to New York," said a woman visiting Nantucket from New York. "They said it was twice as crowded as other days."
The Massachusetts Steamship Authority, which also provides ferries to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, said service is likely to be affected from mid-morning to late afternoon Friday.
