Flood — Newport, Rhode Island

2010-03-30 · near Conanicut Park, Newport, Rhode Island

Event narrative

Five to eight inches of rain fell acros Newport County. Many basements were flooded in Jamestown, and Portsmouth. Several roads were flooded in Jamestown, Tiverton, and Portsmouth, including Route 24 at Main Street in Portsmouth, which was closed.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system sat just south of Long Island for two days, bringing heavy rain to much of Southern New England during that time. A persistent southerly low level jet brought very moist air into the area, which resulted in high rainfall rates. A coastal front along the I-95 corridor enhanced rainfall in that area. This event followed a heavy rainfall and record flooding event in mid-March as well as a second lesser rain event about a week prior. Rivers across much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were still high from those events and warm temperatures in northern Vermont and New Hampshire resulted in a period of snowmelt, that resulted in rises on both the mainstem Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers. All of these factors led to a second record rainfall and flooding event.

Two day rainfall totals across Southern New England ranged from an inch to ten inches. Though concentrated in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, all of Southern New England was affected by the flooding. In hardest hit Rhode Island, two day rainfall totals ranged from five to ten inches. Providence, Boston, and Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA set record monthly precipitation totals during the month of March. Providence also set the record for the wettest month ever in the period of record. Both the Pawtuxet River in Rhode Island and the Sudbury River in Massachusetts set floods of record.

River and areal flooding resulted in millions of dollars of damage across Rhode Island, with numerous homes, businesses, and people affected. A portion of Interstate 95, the main highway through Rhode Island, was closed for two days after the Pawtuxet River inundated the highway with up to three feet of water. Amtrak service through the state was suspended for several days because portions of the tracks were under up to two feet of water in several locations across the state. Passengers were rerouted through Springfield, Massachusetts. Though all 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island were affected, the most damage was seen in Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry, and Cranston, where the Pawtuxet and Pocasset Rivers flow through. Four dams in Rhode Island were breached and many others were overtopped and close to breaching, which resulted in the inspection of 42 dams throughout the state. Officials estimated that more than 500 people were evacuated from their homes because of rising water or the threat of rising water. More than 500 Rhode Island National Guardsmen were activated during the flooding, filling sandbags, directing traffic, and aiding in evacuations. Six National Grid substations were flooded and four were close to flooded, disrupting electrical service in Westerly and Warwick. One of the amphibious vehicles generally used on the Boston Duck Tours was lent to the state of Rhode Island to transport utility workers to and from these substations and switching terminals. Shellfishing grounds in the southern part of the state were closed temporarily over concerns of sewage and other contaminants in the water. They reopened about a week and a half later. Half a dozen sewage treatment plants through the state were overwhelmed or compromised by the flooding, leading to raw sewage being discharged into area rivers and bays. The Governor's office estimated that tens of thousands of properties were impacted by the flooding and about 4,000 workers were affected when the businesses they worked in were closed during and after the flooding. Numerous schools and many businesses, as well as the state government were closed for at least a day because of the flooding. President Obama issued a federal disaster declaration for the entire state of Rhode Island and residents received an automatic extension for filing their state and federal income taxes. The disaster declaration encompassed both the mid-March storm and this storm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.5682, -71.3720)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 220233. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.