In flood-ravaged Rhode Island, Interstate 95 reopened this afternoon as the Pawtuxet River waters receded. State authorities believe the open highway should help reduce the gridlock gripping the region. <\/p>\n
The sun is finally shining but the view greeting worker and residents is one of damaged streets, homes and businesses. The losses will be great in a state that is already suffering in the midst of recession.<\/p>\n
Angelo Padula owns an auto-repair and salvage business that was caught in the flood zone. He expects the damage total to be high.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver a million dollars,\u201d said Padula. \u201cI don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to recoup it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Padula also sits on the West Warwick town council and says his business is not the only one that will need help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need relief money, not loans. These businesses have been struggling for years with the economy being the way it is and this just capped it right off,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping for some kind of relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Padula feels horrible for all the business owners affected, his heart goes out to the homeowners who\u2019ve lost everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have elderly people on the street in there- late 80\u2019s, 90\u2019s. They have nowhere to go. It\u2019s just a tragedy. I could never imagine that it would ever be like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wendy Laurence has been unable to reach her home off River Street in West Warwick but expects the damage on her flooded first floor will be bad. Her new living room set, her parent\u2019s dining room table and a washer and dryer are just a few items she knows will be ruined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t even really process it. I don\u2019t have any emotion because I can\u2019t think about it too far ahead. I think it\u2019s going to be really hard when we can get in to get a few things,\u201d Laurence said.<\/p>\n
The birthday gifts for her 4-year-old son are also inside. Laurence says the celebration she wanted to have will have to wait. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne day at a time. Be thankful I got my kids out and they\u2019re okay and just take it as it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomorrow US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to Rhode Island to assess the damage. FEMA will act as the primary agency distributing aid to stricken businesses and residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In flood-ravaged Rhode Island, Interstate 95 reopened this afternoon as the Pawtuxet River waters receded. State authorities believe the open highway should help reduce the gridlock gripping the region. The sun is finally shining but the view greeting worker and residents is one of damaged streets, homes and businesses. The losses will be great in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4642,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-501648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}