If a quick scan of the internet is to be believed (and when has the internet ever been wrong?), 19th century writer Charles Dudley Warner once remarked “Everybody seems to complain about the weather, but nobody seems to do anything about it.” Through the years, people laugh at its absurd nature, and agree with its sentiment, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Facts are, we all have a hand in the weather, and some are doing an awful lot about it.

In August of 2023, a microburst hit Needham, straining its drainage system to its fullest, and leaving many neighborhoods to deal with intensely damaging floods. While the duration of the event was just a few hours long, the ramifications of the flooding will carry over for many years to come.

Of course, this wasn’t the first major flooding to hit Needham, and today Gloria Greis, Executive Director of the Needham History and Museum, walks us through some of the town’s most striking storms. We also will talk with two of the people who are working to make residents more resilient to weather events, through building both infrastructure and community partnerships. We sit down with Carys Lustig, Director of Public Works, and Tom Ryder, Needham’s Town Engineer.