Record rainfall, flooding force evacuations in Northeast

[Elmore Furth]

Source: LA Times

By Tina Susman and Nicole Santa Cruz

April 1, 2010
Flooding caused by record rainfall over the Northeast on Wednesday washed out bridges in Connecticut and Massachusetts, disrupted travel across the region as some rivers reached their highest levels ever and prompted Rhode Island officials to temporarily close state offices.

The flooding in Rhode Island was the state's worst in 100 years, said Marcie Katcher of the National Weather Service. The Pawtuxet River crested at a record 20.7 feet Wednesday afternoon, shattering the previous mark of 14.9 feet on March 15. Floodwaters spilled across the communities of Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick.

In Warwick, water came close to covering cars in the parking lot of the 70-store Warwick Mall. A small boat motored through the water to pick up a mall security guard who had failed to leave earlier. Ducks paddled serenely along streets that were under 2 feet of water.

Although the storm drifted eastward and dry weather was forecast for the next few days, water trickling down from higher elevations kept rivers swollen. Flooding remained a problem.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-floods1-2010apr01,0,1699501.story

[MUAD_DIB]

1. We're pretty sick of all the hundred years storms we've had this month.

[here_is_to_hope]

6. We had it all yesterday here in Oregon...

Hailed so hard, half the budding leaves on my apple tree were taken down.
While we are used to 8 inches in two days here on the Coast, I feel for you Nor'Easters.:hug:

[MUAD_DIB]

8. Thanks. Sorry to hear about your apple tree. What kind is it?

Lots of buds have been stripped off of the trees here as well. I hope that we all see a tiny bit of drier weather.

Last spring extended pretty much into August.

[here_is_to_hope]

12. Its a 95 year old

Gravenstein I believe. Last season, it produced more apples than every horse n the neighborhood could eat and then some, maybe 1200 lbs.
But it was sad to see the leaves torn up so bad.
Not as sad as river next to your house being 10 feet above flood stage!

[virgogal]

2. Yeah,it's been a tad damp around here. I've been lucky but

it's been really tough on many people.

[hughee99]

3. We're preparing for a regatta in my basement. n/t

[Paper Roses]

4. Just plain nasty here, pumps going constantly. I'm lucky,

no power failure or I'd be under water. It is bad almost everywhere. I'm an old timer and remember all the big storms we've had. Nothing like this deluge.

Places that never flood have water. Walking on the grass is like walking on a wet sponge. It is super saturated. Thank heaven for the warm weather coming the next few days. We can all open cellars and hope some of the water evaporates. I have two pumps and one or the other is going all the time. It is coming up through the cellar floor, not the foundation. Under control with pumps.

Folks who live near any river or stream are suffering the most. All rivers have gone over their banks and into cellars. Highways closed that are major commute routes. Businesses have no customers. Everyone is home pumping or not inclined to slug through water to shop.
This month has been from hell for those of us in the northeast. I hope this is the end of this bizarre weather.

My rain guage went over the top which means more than 8 inches these past 2 days.

[MUAD_DIB]

5. I live by the Mystic, but up a hill.

My brothers and I have been pumping out my mother's basement for the past few days.

Idyllic...

[Old and In the Way]

7. I live at the top of a hill, so I'm OK with basement issues.

Me dirt road, however, is near impassable. :-(

[Po_d Mainiac]

10. Ever hear bout that new stuff they put on driveways now?

It's called gravel :evilgrin:

Why don't u and the misses come over for lunch tomorrow....bring the VW...It should just about fill the trench, er pothole down the road.

[Old and In the Way]

14. Hey wise guy....

I'm just hitting DU now. I put 3 cu yards of stone on the problem area last Spring...I think someone stole it. I need to talk to you...I think I might have some need for your skilz.

[applegrove]

9. The northeast of the USA got all of our snow this winter (Ontario)and now they have flooding while

our many lakes are low. It hardly snowed at all this winter. I hope this isn't a sign of what global warming will look like. We like our lakes.

[Old Troop]

11. What's strange

is that areas with no history of flooding saw flash floods. I think some of it is the development of former wetlands. In MA, if you've got the bucks and the influence (probably a tautology) you can build just about anywhere. On the former Ft Devens, they closed the military golf course and built a bigger one almost totally on wetlands.

[HillbillyBob]

13. Like in Fla when the folks that live out in Plantation Fl(w of FtL)

bitch about gators and such in their pools..um you built on wetlands that is their home. Those wetlands are natures way of holding water/flooding at bay.

I live in rural Caswell County, NC (just South of Danville VA) and most of the streams and the Dan river have been running near bankfull since November..this after several years of drought.
We had beavers building a lodge in a usually small stream that runs along our property line..they left.
That same stream according to local lore has not dried up since 1913..it was dry 2 summers in a row, now its in flood stage also a rise to the banks( alluvial soil) that its spilling over and causing the surrounding land to develop sink holes. The last few storms have cause roof damage here that I have to repair. Straight line winds have lifted the shingles. This after putting primer and Kool Seal over them..have to get that second coat on, between the storms. I hope we get rain over the summer. Though it seems we are getting winter storms, Spring and Fall rains and little rain in Summer which seems is a different pattern than in the past.

We bought the house as abandoned up on the hill. IF it floods up here we gots way mo bigger problems than simply flood its 60 or 70 feet down hill to the creek. We are having major wet problems in our crawl space. I looked under there with the idea of pulling some new wires and it looked like a swamp under there with puddles and all. I put a solar powered fan in the access to help dry it out.

[dipsydoodle]

15. Check out the pictures here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1262866/Thousands-evacuated-New-England-hit-worst-flooding-200-years.html

I'd bought a banjo body from a guy in Rhode Island early this week for shipping to the UK. When i hadn't heard from him by yesterday I 'phoned to see wassup. He said they'd been flooded for days and had no power. :(

No banjo jokes please.