ABC6 EXCLUSIVE: Central Falls families displaced following flood damage

Central Falls, R.I. (WLNE)- Two families in Central Falls are now displaced after Saturday’s rainfall caused them to evacuate.

At around 3:00 Saturday afternoon significant flooding broke through a retaining wall that sits at the bottom of Brook St.

A collapse that could jeopardize the foundation of multiple houses in the neighborhood.

“The firefighters came and they knocked on the door and told us we need to evacuate because the house might collapse,” resident Jonathan Arcos said.

Arcos has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years.

He said weather was never an issue for the retaining wall, until today.

“I was really shocked and surprised. It’s rained a lot here before and that’s never happened and now it did and that’s a shocker to me.”

The Arcos family and one other couple will have to spend their Saturday night somewhere else.

“We were wondering here are we going to go, where are we going to stay? It’s unexpected, you just can’t control the situation,” Arcos said.

The American Red Cross is giving these families some much needed help.

The Red Cross will be assisting with housing and meals, while a group of engineers will closely monitor the substructure of the homes for the next few days.

At this time, the homes on the street have not been impacted by the walls collapse.

The families should be able to return home in the next 2 days.