Providence building collapse due to rain in RI delays project – NECN

Providence, Rhode Island, set a new daily rainfall record Monday, and it was still raining Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. All this water caused serious problems.

Cleaning continues on Miru street, where the roof of the farm building collapsed due to heavy rain. Four tenants must now relocate their businesses and may not return for months.

Jerry Battista, the owner of the property, had a narrow escape when the roof collapsed.

“I was about 20 feet away when I heard the cracks,” he said. “We’re seeing leaks in areas that have never seen leaks before.”

The Providence area was hit by torrential rains and flash flooding on Monday. The West River burst its banks Monday night and several cars could be seen stuck on flooded roads.

Monday’s heavy rain proved too much for the utility building.

“The last thing I felt was water around my feet,” Batista said. “There must have been a lake on top of that thing.”

The rain continued Tuesday in Providence as Batista and his father, Miguel, began cleaning up the property they were developing. This setback is expected to delay the finished work for several years.

“I’m glad we’re okay,” Miguel Batista said.

The storm hit Providence particularly hard. On Monday afternoon, neighbors rescued a man caught in a flash flood from a flooded car. About 100 yards of Interstate 95 is flooded.

On Tuesday, all that water blocked traffic again — it spilled into the Providence DMV office. Eighty-five drivers were unable to pass their tests on Melrose Street because it was closed due to high water.

“Employees arrived here this morning around 7 o’clock and found approximately 20 inches of water in the building,” Rhode Island Department of Revenue spokesman Paul Grimaldi said.

At Brown University, first-year students who just moved into their dorms across from Keeney Quad are now drying out after water seeped into the first floor of their building.

All the rain postponed the varsity practice until Saturday.

“It’s a tradition that a lot of people care about,” freshman Jack Budofsky said.

There is still a lot of work to be done on Miru Street.

“Now we have to see how we can make the other parts of the building safe enough to be occupied while we work on what’s going to happen here,” explained Jerry Battista.