WILLIAMSBURG — Scott Hodges and Jack Slowik were watching the swollen East Branch of the Mill River slowly subside as the rain ceased Monday morning when the police came calling.

Everyone living on Ashfield Road along the river would have to evacuate because water was cresting a dam upstream, Officers Peter Fisher and Aimee Wallace said.

Slowik had joined Hodges, his neighbor and landlord, on his deck when the water came up within 2 inches of his own back door. With some backyard shelters and play equipment still secured, Hodges seemed untroubled at losing a fair amount of lawn furniture.

Now they would have to worry about the water rising again.

Persistent heavy rain falling on already saturated ground over the weekend led to flooded roads and some home rescues across the region. Route 9 in Williamsburg and Meadow Street in Florence were two of the roads flooded for a time by the raging Mill River.

In Westhampton, Perry Hill Road from North Road to Kings Highway was closed from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Northampton Fire Rescue and the Department of Public Works responded to Maines Field in Florence to rescue a 57-year-old city resident trapped in their vehicle due to the rising Mill River. The resident was evacuated safely, according to the Northampton Police Department.

Later in the day, a team from the Northampton Department of Public Works activated the flood-control gates on West Street, closing the street to through traffic.

Director Donna LaScaleia said the Mill River had reached a level that calls for the uprights to be put in position. Workers will monitor the river level and, if it rises further, will place timbers between the uprights to act as a dam.

At the same time the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be doing abutment work on the bridge over the Mill River, which may extend the street closure.

Williamsburg emergency personnel had to rescue two people from their Ashfield Road home, emergency manager Denise Banister said.

“I imagine we’ll be getting calls from people whose basements are flooded,” Banister said.

She said the town had “incredible help” from public safety workers from neighboring towns as well as the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

At least five towns in western Massachusetts declared a local state of emergency, including Williamsburg and Deerfield, MEMA public information officer Sara Porter said.

“We were receiving reports of fire departments pumping out 3 or 4 feet of water from people’s basements,” Porter said.

Many rivers, especially the larger ones, will continue to crest through Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, she said.

Emergency officials in Hadley warned that the Connecticut River could reach minor flood stage by early Tuesday, with the possibility of reaching flood stage by early Wednesday. Officials urged seasonal campers along the river to move to higher ground.

Residents of Aqua Vitae Road and other low-lying areas were also alerted to be prepared to evacuate. If needed, an emergency shelter will be opened at Hadley Elementary School.

In Williamsburg, Slowik said he was back in his home Monday afternoon after the emergency was lifted.

Slowik, who has lived there 11 years, said his neighbor told him “he’s never seen anything like it since 1947.”

Reporters Scott Merzbach and Alexander MacDougall contributed to this report.]]>