Pigeon Cove Ledges

Pigeon Cove Ledges is one of three affordable housing developments in Rockport for elderly residents on fixed incomes. The amount of elderly housing in Rockport is a point of civic pride.¹Pigeon Cove’s thirty units are contained within a single building managed by Harborlight Community Partners.²

While the Ledges are out of reach of any storm surge or flooding hazards, the mature forest in the Pigeon Cove woods currently experiences small brush fires that will grow larger and more frequent due to increasing temperatures and longer summers in the near future.³

Older adults, especially those with chronic diseases and disabilities, face challenges in preparing for and enduring natural disasters. Residents who rely on Cape Ann’s “Seniors on the Go” program for transportation to grocery stores may find themselves without critical supplies leading into the storm.⁴ Chronic conditions can easily be worsened by storms due to lack of food, water, extreme heat or cold, and stress.⁵

During the Great Storm, the mature deciduous trees in the Pigeon Cove woods behind the ledges will be a hazard in high winds. As trees are uprooted and fall into the parking lot, residents will struggle to reach their cars to evacuate and winds will turn tree branches into dangerous projectiles. Storm surge will block off the evacuation routes from Pigeon Cove Ledges as the Pigeon Cove breakwater is overtopped and Route 127 along Granite Street is flooded. Residents who exit Curtis Street onto Route 127 to the north will be stopped by flooding and hazardous conditions on the Goose Cove Causeway. Access to medical care at Addison Gilbert Hospital will be difficult to reach and, without emergency generators, power outages may be deadly for the stranded elderly population.