The house next door has a very badly damaged deck. Are these homes on the water?
It looks to me like the houses are right on the water. I'm trying to figure out what that is right in front of the houses. Looks like the land ends there. If they are right on the water, I'd assume something like this happens nearly every year. Moisture from the sea plus typical cold New England winters must equal ice on the houses.
A little below where the woman is standing looks like it might be a bulkhead, you can see the ice has broken off a bit. The caption also says the town is located on a peninsula, so it would be safe to assume there's water nearby. :-)