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| Situation Update No. 3 Ref.no.: FA-20100330-25525-USA
Situation Update No. 3
On 2010-04-01 at 09:59:42 [UTC]
Event: Flood Warning
Location: USA State of Rhode Island Rhode Island-wide Situation: Flooding on a scale rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of residents from their homes on Wednesday. The flooding overwhelmed sewage systems and isolated communities as it washed out bridges and rippled across thoroughfares from Maine to Connecticut. Hardest hit by three days of record-breaking rain was Rhode Island, where the worst flooding in 200 years could persist for several more days and permanently close businesses already struggling in the weak economy. Three days of record-breaking rains calmed in a mild drizzle, then stopped before the waters in hard-hit Rhode Island finally crested. But authorities across New England warned that the flooding, far worse than an inundation two weeks ago in the same areas, could linger for days. Doug Ledduc, a Rhode Island resident, said the damage and devastation from the floods was incredible but he was hopeful after four or five days the water would be gone. The swollen Pawtuxet River threatened to collapse a bridge in the town of Coventry, sending residents of a neighbourhood fleeing. In Rhode Island, rescues continued for a third day along the Pawtuxet, which flooded several blocks past its banks in many spots.
The river crested on Wednesday morning at 20.79 feet (6.4 metres), nearly six feet (1.8 metres) over the previous record, set only two weeks ago, and almost 12 feet (3.6 metres) above its ordinary level of nine feet (2.7 metres). The river was expected to return to its banks by Saturday, officials said. Rhode Island's Governor Don Carcieri said a number of homes and businesses had been effected badly by the unprecedented floods. "Fortunately, we've been able to get them out so that everybody is safe. Now they've got terrible messes that are going to have to be cleaned up and many of them are trying to figure out where they go from here," he added. US President Barack Obama issued an emergency declaration late on Tuesday for Rhode Island, ordering federal aid for relief and authorising the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate efforts. A stretch of the main East Coast highway, Interstate 95, shut down, and Amtrak suspended some trains on its busy Northeast lines. Every resident of Rhode Island, a state of about one (m) million, was asked to conserve water and electricity because of flooded sewage systems and electrical substations. The waters either stranded hundreds of people or sent them to shelters. Many of those who stayed behind appeared shell-shocked. Rhode Island officials warned that although the waters had begun to recede by Wednesday afternoon, the Pawtuxet was not expected to go below its banks before Saturday.
The flooding caps a month that set rainfall records across the region. Boston measured nearly 14 inches (35 centimetres) for March, breaking the previous record for the month, set in 1953. New Jersey, New York City and Portland, Maine, surpassed similar records. Providence registered its rainiest month on record, period, with a total of more than 15 inches (38 centimetres) of rain in March. |  | | | |
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