2010-04-07 CNN
Nobody can remember anything worse than the flooding right now in Rhode Island. And that's because it's the worse there in 200 years.
Here's more of what we know. The rain has stopped but rivers are only slowly receding. Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, plans to travel to the state tomorrow. The president has already declared most of Rhode Island a disaster area.
And part of I-95 is closed and could stay that way for days as engineers inspect structural damage and even Amtrak has suspended some service in the northeast corridor.
So say you were told to grab whatever possessions you could hold in your hands and flee your home. What would you take? Well, that's been the dilemma for flooded-out residents in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Our Reynolds Wolf is there with one man's story.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, I am coming to you from Shaw Plaza here in Warwick, Rhode Island where there were only just a few puddles here a few days ago. But it's got a raging torrent of water that's coming on through. The flood waters not just here but throughout much of the region.
Now although we've got plenty of damage to businesses here, the stories that we've seen in some places like Cranston, Rhode Island have more of a personal side. Yesterday, we were able to see one man's struggle against the rising waters.
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WOLF (voice-over): Rhode Island or Eddie Flynn has called this place home for the past 10 years. But he's never seen anything like this. Early Tuesday morning, the neighboring waters of the flooding Pawtuxet River paid him a visit.
EDDIE FLYNN, CRANSTON EVACUEE: About 7:00 yesterday morning is when I spotted it. And I’d seen all the water. I said, we're in trouble.
WOLF: 24 hours later, his basement was submerged. And with waters rising higher, the rescue boats of the Cranston Fire Department came calling. With only minutes to spare, Ed grabbed what mattered most -- his girlfriend and two puppies -- and was towed to dry land. His loss, overwhelming.
FLYNN: That’s where I lost everything. Once they shut the pumps off, my furnace is under water, everything.