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Wednesday, March 31st, 2010In all, the storm system dumped 8.75 inches of rain in East Providence, 7.6 inches in downtown Providence, and 5 inches in Cranston, all in Rhode Island, he said.
Compounding the misery was the fact that parts of the region were still trying to shake off the effects of a storm two weeks ago. This week’s system with its heavy winds and rain has left thousands of customers without power.
On the National Weather Service map posted on its Web site, the coast was covered in bright green from Maine to Delaware, indicating widespread flood warnings.
“We haven’t seen the worst of it yet,” Rhode Island Gov. LOUIS VUITTON Handbags Donald Carcieri told reporters Tuesday night after seven to eight inches of rain had inundated much of the state. He pleaded with state residents to stay off the roads. “We are very concerned about flooding on the highways,” he said.
The Blackstone River in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and the Pawcatuck River in Charleston, Rhode Island, were not expected to crest until 8 a.m. Wednesday, he said.
“None of us alive have seen the kind of flooding we are experiencing now,” he said, calling the downpour an event that occurs once every 100 years to 500 years.
Sewage treatment plants around the state were swamped, with one in Warwick, Rhode Island, “completely inundated,” he said. That led the Department of Health to order the closure of all beaches in the state. Emergency officials asked residents of affected areas to try to conserve water.
Decisions about school closings were to be announced in the morning, he said.
Carcieri urged residents of low-lying areas not to jeopardize their safety by refusing to comply with officials’ requests to evacuate. He noted that some members of the National Guard have been deployed to help.
Cranston Mayor Allan Fung said about 120 homes had been evacuated in the western part of the city.
Dam safety was to be monitored overnight, said Dave Smith, director of the Emergency Management Agency. “The water that’s running through the throats of some of those dams is remarkable,” he said.
A spokesman for National Grid Energy Services said 12,000 to 14,000 customers were without electricity in the Cranston area, where a substation was underwater.
In Westerly, Rhode Island, another 9,600 customers were in the dark, the spokesman said. He told area residents to expect rotating outages throughout the night and predicted they would continue for “a period of days.”
Gas was turned off in some areas, too, he said.
Shelters have been set up throughout the state, said Rhode Island Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts.10luoyuejun0331