Wet weather wreaks havoc on area residents

CRANSTON, R.I.—Water-logged Southern New Englanders, who haven’t seen much of a summer yet because of continuous rainfall, were not expecting to get much of a break Thursday.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for Rhode Island. The weather service says the warning is in effect through 11 p.m.

The agency says intense showers and thunderstorms are expected to dump to 4 inches of rain on saturated soil throughout the day, a situation that could lead to flash floods.

The weather service also advised residents that rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will bring sharp rises in small streams.

Some area residents were cleaning up after Wednesday’s wet and wild weather, which included reports of multiple lightning strikes.

In Cumberland, a family said lightning struck their home’s chimney. No one was hurt, but it left quite a mess.

In Rehoboth, a lightning strike put a hole into the roof of a house on Providence Street. No one was injured.

Early Wednesday afternoon, a man was struck by lightning in West Greenwich outside of PSP Industrial Machine on Victory Highway. The man was transported to Rhode Island Hospital. His condition was not available.

But it wasn’t just the lightning and wind that caused property damage.

The wild weather also caused a tree to fall on a house on Ottawa Avenue in Warwick. No injuries were reported.

In North Kingstown, a large patio tent collapsed under the weight of the rain water that had collected on its canopy.