So on twitter I follow the National Weather Service or NWS. I also have the NWS frequencies programmed into all my amateur radio gear. You never know.

But they posted this floods_booklet.

I’ve seen flooding for years – back into the late 1970’s and early 80’s RI has seen rivers flood on a frequent basis.

When I was younger I worked at a hardware store on Branch Avenue – right behind the store was the West River – few by Geneva Pond and Whipple Pond in North Providence. it used to flood regularly.

In another place I worked in the 2000’s it was right next to the West River. Never flooded – they put good drainage and berms in.

But one day a few years ago we were visiting a friend in Pawtucket right off Hope Street. The Seekonk River is about 1200 feet from there. Well that flooded like all hell that day. Had to take shelter on the bench in a bus stop.

And of course there’s the flooding of 2010 – that was pretty bad. Took out a bridge on Atwells Avenue and in western Cranston the water was up to the roof lines. Seems that one was our main water supply the Scituate Reservoir  – it’s spillways empty out into the Woonasquatucket River. All that water had to go somewhere. 

Flooding has always been a fact of life here. Always. But it’s gotten worse over the years.