Battered Rhode Island watches as water rises

[jimmy olsen]

Not my people!

My Mom says we have 4 inches in the basement! That's at least twice what we've ever had before.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36085345/ns/weather/

Battered Rhode Island watches as water rises

President Obama issues emergency declaration for beleaguered state
Most viewed on msnbc.com
updated 1:03 a.m. ET March 31, 2010

CRANSTON, R.I. - A record-shattering rainstorm hammered the Northeast on Tuesday, delivering widespread flooding for the second time this month and unleashing particular havoc in Rhode Island, a tiny coastal state already beleaguered by a sagging economy and backbreaking unemployment rate.

The storm soaked all corners of what is known as the Ocean State, pushing rivers over their banks, closing roads and schools, and requiring hundreds of people to evacuate, including by boat. The rain finally tapered off by Tuesday afternoon but resumed in Providence by evening, with officials bracing for what is expected to be the most severe flooding to hit the state in more than 100 years.

As flood waters began to sweep through first floors in some areas, rivers from Maine down to the New York area weren't even expected to crest until Wednesday or Thursday.

"None of us alive have seen the flooding that we are experiencing now or going to experience," Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri said Tuesday night. "This is unprecedented in our state's history."

The rain came as residents were still recovering from a storm two weeks ago that dumped as much as 10 inches on the region and led President Barack Obama to declare a major disaster in all but one Rhode Island county. Business owners in the flood zone are still grappling with the impact of lost income.

"It's definitely devastating," said liquor store owner Maria Medeiros, whose family-owned business in Providence now abuts raging rapids of water and streets barricaded by the police. "Situations like this, what can you do?"

NBC News
Across the street, workers in a Blockbuster video store scrambled to raise DVDs to top shelves to avoid any damage.

Carcieri last week cited what he called the state's "fragile economic climate" and an estimated $220 million state budget deficit when he asked Obama to declare a federal disaster. The state's unemployment rate has hovered for months around 13 percent and has long been among the highest in the nation.

"Rhode Island's state and local governments have scant financial resources to support a robust recovery effort," Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse wrote in asking Obama to extend the disaster to all of Rhode Island and also to make a federal emergency declaration.

Emergency declaration
Obama issued an emergency declaration late Tuesday for the state, ordering federal aid for disaster relief and authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts.

Even fishermen were hit: Shellfish beds in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were closed because of sewage overflows and failures at wastewater treatment facilities caused by flooding.

National Guard troops were activated in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Scattered home evacuations were reported in those states, as well, and residents in flood-prone areas of New Hampshire were put on alert that they may have to leave. No deaths were reported in those states as of Tuesday evening.

Records fell across the region.

The nearly 14 inches of rain that fell this month in Boston broke the previous March record of 11, according to the National Weather Service. New Jersey and parts of New York City also set March records. And by Tuesday afternoon, Providence had recorded more than 15 inches of rain in March, becoming the rainiest of any month on record.

In one water-weary neighborhood along the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, basements were flooded by early Tuesday morning as water levels approached waist-deep levels toward the end of the street. One resident hung a sign: "FEMA + State + City of Cranston. Buy our houses."

"Right now it's bad and getting worse," said Brian Dupont, a real estate broker who owns two homes on the street. He feared the dozens of sandbags protecting the homes would offer minimal protection.

"We've got a saying, 'It's like trying to shovel against the tide.' It's terrible, terrible," said Dupont, who was afraid the home might now be unsellable.

Standing water pooled on or rushed across roads in the region, making driving treacherous and forcing closures.

Interstate 95, a major East Coast thoroughfare, was closed for about a quarter-mile in Warwick, R.I., because of flooding and down to one lane in other areas of Rhode Island. In Maine, a dam in Porter let loose Tuesday morning, sending a torrent of water down country roads. No evacuations or injuries were reported.

North of New York City, a man in his 70s drove past a barricade onto a flooded section of the Bronx River Parkway and had to be rescued from the roof of his truck, Westchester County police said. On Long Island, rain coupled with tides inundated a 20-mile stretch of oceanfront road in Southampton.

In Connecticut, heavy rains caused the earth under a Middletown apartment complex parking lot to give way, leaving two buildings teetering over the ravine of a river. Residents have been evacuated to an emergency shelter at a local high school.

Weather-related delays averaged three hours at Newark Liberty International Airport and two hours at New York's La Guardia Airport, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In New York City, a mudslide caused some interruptions on a commuter rail line in the Bronx.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press

[Jaron]

I bet your mama has 7 inches in her basement.

[garbon]

Can you stop spamming the forum? Thx.

[jimmy olsen]

If the rest of you guys started more threads I wouldn't feel the need.

[Jaron]

We're like Ents. We never post anything unless theres something worthwhile to post. Unlike you who links every damn thing you click on while surfing the net.


Bitch!

[Agelastus]

Didn't one of our colleagues say he was "the new Tim" or something similar a few days ago.

Tim's just overcompensating.

[Grey Fox]

Do not Listen to them, Jaron & Garbon of all people.

[Caliga]

My old house had a basement that was extremely prone to flooding even in normal rain conditions.  SUCK IT, YANKEE LOSER WHO BOUGHT MY HOUSE.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Maybe soon your state will be an actual island. 

[KRonn]

A lot of my neighbors and people I work with have been pumping water out of their homes. Just down the street from me in one of the low lying neighborhoods is where the Neponset river will, or has, flooded over. I haven't driven by there to check it out, but I've seen it flood before when I was a kid. I'm on high ground but the ground is so water logged that I get some seepage, damp walls in a couple of places. I'm lucky though as that's all I've had so far.

[Caliga]

Maybe soon your state will be an actual island. 

It already is, or rather there is an actual Rhode Island (Newport is on Rhode Island).  The full name of the state is actually "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations".

[Fireblade]

My old house had a basement that was extremely prone to flooding even in normal rain conditions.  SUCK IT, YANKEE LOSER WHO BOUGHT MY HOUSE.

Um, bro, you ARE a yankee.

[garbon]

We're like Ents. We never post anything unless theres something worthwhile to post. Unlike you who links every damn thing you click on while surfing the net.


Bitch!

[HisMajestyBOB]

Maybe soon your state will be an actual island. 

It already is, or rather there is an actual Rhode Island (Newport is on Rhode Island).  The full name of the state is actually "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations".

Then get rid of the city crap and bring back the plantations.

[Caliga]

Um, bro, you ARE a yankee.

What does that have to do with the guy who bought my house?