Flood — Providence, Rhode Island

2010-03-29 to 2010-03-31 · near Howard, Providence, Rhode Island

Event narrative

Six to nine inches of rain fell across Providence County, resulting in rises on both the Blackstone River at Woonsocket and the Pawtuxet River at Cranston. The Blackstone rose to moderate flood and the Pawtuxet rose to nearly 21 feet, surpassing the previous flood of record set only two weeks prior of nearly 15 feet. The Woonasquatucket, Runnins, and Ten Mile Rivers also flooded.

Several small streams rose above flood stage across Providence County, including the Woonasquatucket River at Centerdale and the Branch River near North Smithfield.

Numerous streets and basements were flooded across all of Providence County, including Cranston, North Smithfield, Johnston, Scituate, East Providence, North Providence, Providence, Pawtucket, and Cumberland. Several were undermined and eroding away, including the major east/west route through Cumberland, Nate Whipple Highway (Route 120) and Old Sayles Hill Road in North Smithfield. The portion of Old Sayles Hill Road that eroded leads to a dead end, stranding residents at the end. Flooding over the railroad tracks between Providence and Attleboro, MA resulted in the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority cancelling commuter rail service to Providence.

About 45 people were evacuated from the Riveredge Village apartment complex in the Manton neighborhood of Providence. Roughly 120 homes were evacuated in the Valley View neighborhood in Cranston. A four building condo complex on Fordson Avenue was also evacuated. About 300 people total were evacuated from their homes in Cranston. In Cumberland, all 193 apartments in the Ashton Mill complex and 200 residents of an assisted living facility (One Mendon Road) were evacuated. A house on Dexter Lane in Scituate was flooded, trapping an elderly resident. Houses near the intersection of Warren and Waterman Avenues in East Providence were evacuated. Tenants from lower level units of an apartment building on Exchange Court in Pawtuxet were asked to evacuate due to flooding. A car on Valley Street in Providence was stuck in flood waters, leaving the driver stranded. Two homes on Tuxedo Street in Providence were looted while their owners were kept away for safety reasons.

The Woonasquatucket River rose in Providence inundating two major parks and the Eagle Square shopping center, including an Eye and Audiology Clinic for the VA Hospital. It also flooded a bridge that takes Valley Street over the river and forced the evacuation of houses and some apartment complexes in nearby neighborhoods, incluing Olneyville and Manton. The animal shelter in Cumberland was evacuated to the animal shelter in nearby Lincoln.

One of Cumberland's largest employers, Hope Global, was damaged by the flooding. Employees were able to safeguard much of the equipment at the company by raising it off the floor several feet but 30,000 square feet worth of offices and furniture were ruined. Damage estimates for Hope Global thus far have totaled around $400,000.

In Woonsocket, flooding caused a national computer system failure at CVS that affected prescription services in all 7,000 of its pharmacies. Stores were able to fill prescriptions but were unable to process insurance claims. This resulted in some delays in filling the prescriptions.

In North Providence, a dam was breached, emptying Geneva Pond into West River. A nearby bridge that carries Douglas Avenue over West River sustained damage to its abutments and was closed.

The Cranston wastewater treatment plant failed during the flooding, untreated sewage into the Pocasset River at a rate of 8 million gallons per day.

In Johnston, the Pocasset Bridge on Route 14 (Plainfield Street) that spans the Pocasset River was closed after it started to show four large cracks. Several items that had floated down the river were caught under the bridge, blocking the water flow. City Hall experienced some flooding as well, prompting employees to shut down the computer system.

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 → (41.7337, -71.4541)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 220234. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.