Dozens of companies that rent space at Cummings Center in Beverly are dealing with the after effects of flooding in their shops caused by Tuesday morning’s rain storms.

There were only a few inches of water in 100, 800 and 900 Cummings Center – enough to cause about 120 Cummings Properties staffers to respond to the flooding, working through the night into yesterday morning, according to Dennis Clarke, Cummings’ CEO. 

Now, the majority of first-floor tenants at the Beverly office development are trying to let the carpets and sheet rock dry out in hopes they won’t need to be replaced. While Cummings Properties will refurbish the common areas, tenants will have to pay for any renovations or damaged goods within the space they occupy, Clarke said.

"Hopefully there will be plenty of reimbursement from insurance companies," Clarke told Banker & Tradesman.

While a handful of firms have relocated to other space at Cummings Center, most are just making the best of a soggy situation and are continuing to operate in their shops, he said.

The flooding was a result of a municipal storm drain system overwhelmed by the rapidly falling rain. Cummings’ buildings are downstream from several drainage systems, and their property is "the last stop before it discharges into Bass River," Clarke said.

"It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before," said Stephen Drohosky, general manager of Cummings Center. "At [6:45 a.m.] we had some puddles in the parking lot, and by [7:45 a.m.] we had buildings full of water."