Flood — Washington, Rhode Island

2010-03-29 to 2010-03-31 · near Escoheag, Washington, Rhode Island

Event narrative

Five to ten inches of rain fell across Washington County, resulting in rises on the Pawcatuck River at Westerly and at Wood River Junction. The Pawcatuck River set a record of nearly fifteen and a half feet at Westerly and just over eleven feet at Wood River Junction.

The Pawcatuck River overflowed its banks in Charlestown, closing Route 91 and Shannock Road. Numerous basements were flooded in South Kingstown, Narragansett, and Charlestown. Numerous roads were flooded in Exeter, Charlestown, Hopkinton, Narragansett, South Kingstown, and North Kingstown, including the intersection of Route 2 and Mail Road and washing away a portion of Route 102 in Exeter. A section of the Blue Pond Dam in Hopkinton washed away, flooding the area and washing out a portion of Route 3. Water flowed so ferociously through the Saugatucket River near the Palisades Mill complex in South Kingstown that windows were broken out of the mill and water flowed into the building, resulting in substantial damage. Lower levels of an office building in the Peace Dale section of South Kingstown were flooded.

Sixteen homes on Summit Road in Exeter were isolated after a portion of the road washed out. Several drivers in Narragansett and Exeter had to be rescued from their cars after they drove into water three to four feet deep. One family in the Peace Dale section of South Kingstown had to be rescued by boat from their home. Four to six homes in the Green Hill section had to be evacuated as well.

A bridge on Route 138 spanning the Chipuxet River in South Kingstown partially collapsed closing Route 138 between Route 2 and Ministerial Road. A second bridge on Route 138 spanning the Usquepaug River in Richmond was closed nearly eight weeks after the flooding after an underwater inspection of the bridge revealed it was damaged by the flooding at the end of March. The bridge is between Routes 2 and 112. It reopened about one week after it was closed. A privately owned dam at Glen Rock Reservoir in West Kingston was partially breached, however, the area downstream of the dam is wetlands so no structures were affected.

Damage to structures at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown amounted to $1.85 million. The basements of all 22 buildings on campus flooded as well as classrooms and offices. Other facilities at the school were closed because of flooding damage to equipment. In addition, Route 138 was flooded cutting off access to the University of Rhode Island from Interstate 95.

A mudslide washed onto two of the three rail tracks (one passenger, one freight) that run through North Kingstown near Routes 403 and 4, disrupting rail service through Rhode Island. A few residents in the area were asked to evacuate.

Chapman Pond and Newton's Marsh flooded and along with flooding from the Pawcatuck River cut off an entire neighborhood from goods and services for at least a week. Residents were encouraged to evacuate after electricity was cut off for safety reasons for nearly a week. However, 20 of the 36 families stayed in their homes to protect them from the rising water. Nearly 10,000 residents of Westerly were impacted by the flooding and power outages that occurred, some of them have not been allowed back in their homes over a month later. The Broad Street Bridge was closed for safety reasons, blocking the main route in and out of Westerly from Connecticut. Several portions of Route 91, a main east-west artery, were flooded and closed. This wreaked havoc with bus schedules and daily commutes. Pawcatuck River flooding in Westerly left some homes flooded up to their roof lines.

Basements, yards, and fields flooded on Block Island. Oil contamination from a home whose foundation collapsed and spilled heating oil, resulted in the temporary closure of shellfishing from HogPen Channel to Trim's Pond and Harbor Pond. Georgian Swamp off Corn Neck Road flooded a private lane cutting off access to two homes.

A single, indirect injury occurred when an unidentified man cut his foot while walking through his flooded basement barefoot.

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 → (41.5970, -71.7881)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 220236. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.