Posted on November 16, 2018
There was some minor flooding around the Pawtuxet River Wednesday morning.
The river crested at 10.68 feet at 1:46 a.m., and slowly receded through the day. Flood stage is 9 feet for the Pawtuxet River.
This is the highest the river has been in more than five years (In June 2013, the river rose to 11.39 feet). Even though the river is receding now, the Pawtuxet River and all area rivers will need to be watched through the weekend with more rain on the way.
Joe Ferragamo, owner of the Unit Tool Company on Venturi Avenue in Warwick, said he expects to see some street flooding from the Pawtuxet River, but usually nothing more than that.
Off nearby Bellows Street, the Pawtuxet River overflowed into a parking lot, but had no impact to the nearby buildings.
“The Army Corp of Engineers did some work down at where the river goes into the bay, and we found the flooding isn’t as bad as it used to be, but it still floods,” Ferragamo said.
The Pawtuxet Village dam was removed in 2011. Ferragamo’s business makes items for the craft and jewelry industry. They make items like charms and earrings.
The business has been in the family since the early 1960s. He said the water does come up to the back door when river levels get high, but that’s rare. The water did not stop at the door in 2010.
“Anything that was three or four feet high got damaged,” he said. “Parts, tools, paperwork, computers,” Ferragamo said about the damage from the Historical Floods in 2010.
He estimates the company had $300,000 in damage from the 2010 flooding.
With more rain late in the week, the river could swell even higher than Wednesday’s levels. At least another inch of rain could follow some snow and sleet Thursday evening.
Ferragamo thinks his business will be okay, but he still keeps an eye on the rainfall.
“Five-hundred year flood or a 100 year flood, we’ve never seen anything like that before, and I don’t think we will again. Hopefully we won’t,” Ferragamo said.
The Pinpoint Weather Team is also monitoring the Pawcatuck and Wood Rivers, which also had some minor flooding earlier Wednesday.
Source: WPRI.com
