Nature has foiled Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci again. Harvard will not float out to sea Friday night even if the Charles River reaches the nine foot crest that the U.S. Weather Bureau predicts.

Worst Since 1886

In fact, Cambridge will probably escape most of the fury of what State Natural Resources Commissioner Robert L. Yasi has termed the "worst flood to hit southeastern Massachusetts since 1886."

"We've got our problem pretty well licked now," Clayton H. Stokes said yesterday. Stokes is the assistant superintendent of the Metropolitan District Commission's Charles River Locks and Drawbridges Division, which deals with the Cambridge portion of the Charles.

"We only get a small part of flood water in this area normally," Stokes said, "and the water from the present storm has been successfully reduced by our equipment."

"A series of check-dams, such as the dam in Waltham, holds back the water and diverts most of it to the Neponset Tidal Basin," he said.

"By Friday we should be far enough ahead in our pumping operations to take care of any expected water rise," he said.

The heavy rainfall, which totaled 5.01 inches at Logan Airport and set a new 24 hour record for the Boston area, has had relatively light effect on Harvard. "There has been no appreciable damage to Harvard buildings," a Buildings and Grounds spokesman said.

Widener Library did report a foot of water at "D" level, however. Buildings and Grounds is "taking all the steps it can to be ready for the predicted cresting of the Charles," the spokesman said. B&G has already increased its supply of flood control equipment, such as pumps and sandbags.

The rains were less kind to downtown Boston. Storrow Drive was buried under six feet of water when the Charles River in the Back Bay area overflowed.