October Nor’easter brings heavy rain, high wind to Southern New England

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WLNE) — From the roads to the beaches, people throughout Southern New England got pounded by the Saturday Nor’easter. In South Kingstown, blowing rain made it hard for drivers to see. 

“It’s soaking wet. It’s very low visibility. Can’t see much. Being behind any truck, windshield gets soaked, wipers on as high as they can go,” said Sam Magee of Bridgewater.

Some people were just going too fast for the conditions. A pickup truck crashed along Route 4 Saturday afternoon, after hydroplaning. 

“Operator here drove through the puddle, lost control, ended up striking the guardrail here, and he’s stuck in the median,” said Sgt. Tom O’Brien o the South Kingstown Police Dept.

Street flooding has been a very real issue across the area. In Exeter, Hallville Road looked more like a pond Saturday. 

“Just got to be cautious. Be mindful that there is excess water on the roadways, and just keep the speeds down,” said O’Brien. 

The high winds brought down trees and limbs. National Grid says they’ve seen scattered outages, but nothing major. Out-of-state crews stood by all day, but in most cases they weren’t needed. 

At Narragansett Town Beach conditions are pretty rough, winds gusting up, blowing the rain sideways. High surf, causing some pretty big waves.

These conditions caused the body of a young dolphin to wash up on shore. Experts are now trying to figure out exactly how it died. 

“The heavy surf will bring animals in that have died, and you tend to see them readily after an event like this,” said Tom Fetherston, a marine biologist with the Navy Lab in Newport. 

The high surf, though, is welcome news for surfers. 

“Having a good time enjoying it. beats staying inside,” said Dave Weaver, who drove all the way down from Westford, Mass., just to catch some waves. 

“Little scary. Just got to be careful. Got to know how to manage it,” said James Weaver. 

© WLNE-TV / ABC6 2018