Meteorologists predicted extremely dangerous floods in the Northeast, as well as the wettest month of March several places had ever seen, and the second huge storm in the span of only two weeks drenched the East Coast. Commuters were told by the National Weather Service to get ready to travel on different routes because their usual roads might be washed out. Flood advisories and warnings were also posted from Maine all the way to the Carolinas since up to seven inches of rain were expected.
While the Northeast was still working on its recovery from the storm that happened earlier – the one that caused ten inches of rain to fall and caused basements to flood and rivers to rise all over the region – the second storm hit. So far, the record of the rainiest March in Boston stood at 1953, when eleven inches fell in a month. Before the latest storm, almost ten inches had already fallen. Even New York is close to its overall March record from 1983 of 10.54 inches. A lot of businesses are losing money because of this natural disaster. With New Jersey businesses flooded with seven feet of water, thanks to the Passaic River, thousands of dollars worth of brand new equipment will need to be purchased and moved to higher grounds in order to replace whatever has already been destroyed.
In Cranston, Rhode Island, a hundred people had to leave their houses since one of the Pawtuxet bridges was closed because of the damage done by the first storm; this concerned authorities since they were worried that residents might not find an escape route later on. The government of Massachusetts brought together a thousand national guardsmen to help in case some extreme flooding came about. Since a lot of flood warnings were also posted at streams and rivers all around Connecticut, its governor opened the operations center of the state’s emergencies, as well. In Long Island, coastal flooding was a huge concern as it could have come about from the high tides and the rain combined. Because of this, workers devoted a lot of their time trucking lots of sand to the state park in case of erosion. In states like New Jersey, closed roads were reported all over. Meteorologists even warned Rhode Island residents of potential fatal situations near the Pawtuxet River after heavy floods came about that were even worse than the storm in the middle of March causing millions of dollars in flood damage. For some, it is starting to become a nightmare come true because things just ended and they may just start back up again.
