Sometimes it’s even worse than the experts predict. That was the case yesterday when a classic Nor’easter transformed already higher than usual tides into icy floods that ravaged pockets of the East Coast from Georgia to Maine.

In Massachusetts, flooding was reported in 32 cities and towns. From Provincetown to Newburyport it was a rare bay community that wasn’t afflicted. As if to telegraph that weather does not respect history, Plymouth Rock was lashed by surges. High-water rescue vehicles were dispatched to Plymouth County to evacuate those trapped on the roofs of their cars or the upper stories of main street.

Downtown Boston saw the worse flooding in 97 years, beating the records set by two previous scourges, the historic 1938 Hurricane and the legendary 1978 superstorm, which — like yesterday’s blizzard — was essentially a hurricane with snow.

The below-the-water-line Aquarium Blue Line MBTA station offered a snapshot of what happened. Usually snug and dry, it was attacked from two directions – above and below. MBTA officials closed the station to passengers, but were able to maintain ride-through service.

Upstairs, on the waterfront by Atlantic Ave, was a mess. The sea water mixed with snow and run off from sewers that were working in reverse. The result: a vaguely grayish sludge straight from a low-rent science fiction flick.

In the nearby Fort Point neighborhood, water ran through some of streets like a Vermont spring stream.  

It will take a day or  so before comparisons with the 1978 flooding can be documented.

There was a big difference yesterday, however. Forty years ago, power lines were down in unmatched numbers. That meant high voltage currents coursed through the sea flood, threatening citizens and rescuers alike.

If flooding was a worst-case scenario come true, then power outages failed to be as widespread as feared. Although, as the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency points out, the number of outages mean little to any individual household without power; deprivation is measured singularly.

Twenty-four hours after the blizzard hit, Massachusetts had 397 households without power — down from yesterday’s mid-day high of an estimated 25,000.

Rhode Island greeted Friday with no outages, according to the National Grid data bank. The state was prepared for as many as 50,000.

Around New England, Maine this morning had 350 “dark” households, New Hampshire 53, Vermont 43, and Connecticut 38.