Coastal Flood — Newport, Rhode Island

2012-10-29 · Newport, Rhode Island

Event narrative

While Newport County's beaches didn't experience the same devastation as Washington County's, Superstorm Sandy affected the coastline there as well.

The Point section of Newport flooded with six to twelve inches of ocean water during the morning high tide cycle. The Bowen's Wharf section also flooded, with water surrounding houses. Ocean Drive and the adjoining seawall in Newport was damaged severely enough that it was one of four areas in the state deemed in greatest need of repairs immediately following the storm. Save the Bay's Exploration Center and Aquarium was damaged by Sandy's 12 foot waves. The wave action also left behind sand, rocks, and debris at the aquarium. Three hundred animals were displaced with the damage to the aquarium. These animals have found temporary shelter at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT, Aquidneck Lobster Company in Newport, RI, and Save the Bay's Bay Center in Providence, RI. The famed Cliff Walk was damaged extensively, with portions of the walkway washed away by storm surge.

South Shore Beach in Little Compton was reduced to cobble and rocks after Sandy washed most, if not all the sand away. Round Pond Road was damaged as a result of a blockage in the culvert that runs under it connecting the pond to Sakonnet Harbor. While the blockage was cleared, at one point the roadway was submerged.

Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown was closed due to damage from Sandy. High surf created unstable banks, steep drop offs next to the trail, washed out other trails and steepened shoreline access points. Also a lack of emergency vehicle access to the refuge contributed to the decision to close.

In Jamestown, Beavertail Road was damaged in the storm. Most of the town beach's dune system in Mackerel Cove was eroded by the storm.

Wider weather episode

Superstorm Sandy, a hybrid storm with both tropical and extra-tropical characteristics, brought high winds and coastal flooding to southern New England. Easterly winds gusted to 50 to 60 mph for interior southern New England; 55 to 65 mph along the eastern Massachusetts coast and along the I-95 corridor in southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and 70 to 80 mph along the southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts. A few higher higher gusts occurred along the Rhode Island coast. A severe thunderstorm embedded in an outer band associated with Sandy produced wind gusts to 90 mph and concentrated damage in Wareham early Tuesday evening,

a day after the center of Sandy had moved into New Jersey. In general, moderate coastal flooding occurred along the Massachusetts coastline, and major coastal flooding impacted the Rhode Island coastline. The storm surge was generally 2.5 to 4.5 feet along the east coast of Massachusetts, but peaked late Monday afternoon in between high tide cycles. Seas built to between 20 and 25 feet Monday afternoon and evening just off the Massachusetts east coast. Along the south coast, the storm surge was 4 to 6 feet and seas from 30 to a little over 35 feet were observed in the outer coastal waters. The very large waves on top of the storm surge caused destructive coastal flooding along stretches of the Rhode Island exposed south coast.

Sandy grew into a hurricane over the southwest Caribbean and then headed north across Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas. As Sandy headed north of the Bahamas, the storm interacted with a vigorous weather system moving west to east across the United States and began to take on a hybrid structure. Strong high pressure over southeast Canada helped with the expansion of the strong winds well north of the center of Sandy. In essence, Sandy retained the structure of a hurricane near its center (until shortly before landfall) while taking on more of an extra-tropical cyclone configuration well away from the center. Sandy's track was unusual. The storm headed northeast and then north across the western Atlantic and then sharply turned to the west to make landfall near Atlantic City, NJ during Monday evening. Sandy subsequently weakened and moved west across southern Pennsylvania on Tuesday before turning north and heading across western New York state into Quebec during Tuesday night and Wednesday.

In Southern New England, Rhode Island was hardest hit. A peak wind gust of 86 mph occurred in Westerly, and nearly the entire Rhode Island shoreline experienced moderate to major coastal flooding. Numerous power outages occurred with winds gusting to 60 mph over the interior and to 80+ mph along the south coast. Major coastal flooding struck the Rhode Island ocean exposed south coast during the Monday evening high tide. This storm tide, especially destructive across shorelines in Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingston, Narragansett, and Block Island, rivaled the impact from Hurricane Bob in 1991. Along the Rhode Island south coast, the damaging coastal flooding was fueled by a storm surge around 5 feet and waves of 30+ feet that propagated on a long fetch into Block Island and Rhode Island Sounds. A survey of impact along Misquamicut Beach revealed an inundation extent consistent with the upper boundary of a category 1 Hurricane and very severe erosion. It should also be noted that the previous high tide during Monday morning produced minor to moderate impacts along the Rhode Island coast and likely weakened dunes and other coastal structures in advance of the more destructive Monday evening high tide.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 416568. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.