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Rhode Island flooding: 'Worst is still yet to come'
By: cnn.comPosted On: 03/31/2010 12:12 P
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The water-weary Northeast, particularly Rhode Island, braced for more misery Wednesday as it battled flooded roads and basements.
The water-weary Northeast, particularly Rhode Island, braced for more misery Wednesday as it battled flooded roads and basements.
"We're just all ready to throw the keys on the counter and walk out of the houses," one Cranston, Rhode Island, resident said. "It's at that point now, you know?"
The rain eased Wednesday after a storm soaked the area, exacerbating remaining effects of another major storm two weeks ago.
Rhode Island appeared to fare the worst. The storm dumped 8.75 inches of rain in East Providence, 7.6 inches in downtown Providence and 5 inches in Cranston, said Tom Econopouly of the Northeast River Forecast Center in Taunton, Massachusetts.
"I can turn on the jet skis and go for a ride," one Rhode Islander said. "What can you do? Mother Nature's winning."
All eyes were on the Pawtuxet River, which runs through Cranston. The river reached 20.7 feet by 8 a.m. ET Wednesday -- a level nearly 12 feet above flood stage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"We have some historic flooding going on in places we've never had flooding before," said Cranston police Lt. Stephen Antonucci. "We have numerous streets that are closed, and they're telling us the worst is still yet to come."
The state shut down parts of Interstate 95 in both directions. President Obama on Monday extended a state of emergency for all of Rhode Island -- freeing up federal dollars to help with relief efforts.
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In Yantic, Connecticut, the Yantic River set a record when it crested Tuesday at 13.6 feet -- 4.6 feet above flood stage.
Floodwaters rush through "Mystic Pizza" town
Yet another record was predicted for Saxonville, Massachusetts, where the Sudbury River was expected to reach 13.4 feet Wednesday afternoon. Flood stage is 10 feet.
"I've been working here for over 10 years, and I really haven't seen anything like this in my career," said Econopouly, a senior hydrologist at the Northeast River Forecast Center.
A map on the National Weather Service's Web site shows coastline shaded in bright green from Maine to Delaware, indicating widespread flood warnings.
"We haven't seen the worst of it yet," Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri said Tuesday night after 7 to 8 inches of rain had inundated much of his state.
Carcieri pleaded with Rhode Islanders to stay off the roads. "We are very concerned about flooding on the highways," he said.
See Rhode Island's roads under water
The Blackstone River in Woonsocket and Pawcatuck River in Charleston were not expected to crest until Wednesday morning, he said.
"None of us alive have seen the kind of flooding we are experiencing now," Carcieri said, calling the downpour an event that occurs once every 100 years to 500 years.
Sewage treatment plants around the state were swamped, with one in Warwick "completely inundated," he said. That led the Department of Health to order the closure of all beaches in the state. Emergency officials asked residents of affected areas to try to conserve water.
Carcieri urged residents of low-lying areas not to jeopardize their safety by refusing to comply with officials' requests to evacuate. He noted that some National Guard have been deployed to help.
Cranston Mayor Allan Fung said about 120 homes had been evacuated in the western part of the city.
A spokesman for National Grid Energy Services said 12,000 to 14,000 customers were without electricity in the Cranston area, where a substation was underwater. In Westerly, another 9,600 customers were in the dark, the spokesman said.
Gas was turned off in some areas, too, he said.
Shelters have been set up throughout the state, said Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts.
No deaths have been reported in Rhode Island.
That was also the case in Massachusetts, where 4 to 7 inches of rain had fallen in the eastern part of the state, said Scott MacLeod, a public information officer with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency in Framingham.
Most of the flooding occurred in southeastern Bristol County, where about 200 people were evacuated, he said.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency earlier this week and activated the National Guard, MacLeod said.
A handful of shelters were open, though few people were staying in them; there were no reports of power outages, MacLeod said.
"It's mainly flooding issues -- closed roads, flooded roadways and basements," he said.
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