Boats overturned, roof ripped off after severe weather hits RI

By Kirsten Glavin
kglavin@abc6.com
@kirstenglavin
 
NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI – Severe whirling gusts of wind ripped off a chunk of roof at Custom Design, in North Kingstown’s Quonset Business Park. 
 
"I heard the roof crack just a little, and some rain came in. So I was rather worried that it was going to come back toward us,” said the company’s Vice President, Adam Dias. 
 
Employees heard the roof crack, and saw funneling wind outside. They shut down machinery immediately. 
 
"I don’t know what it was exactly, but it was a horizontal spinning, funnel–type cloud,” Dias explained. 
 
Many thought a tornado had landed on the business, but, ABC6 Chief Meteorologist, Jeff Desnoyers, clarified that it was actually a down burst. 
 
"A down burst is essentially air rushing down from the top of a thunderstorm. It goes down to the ground very quickly, and it crashes very hard. And it can intensify the winds as it goes down to the ground. You can get localized strong wind gusts. And that’s what we had in that storm in that area during the day,” Desnoyers said. 
 
The same system in North Kingstown also carried dark, ominous clouds over Warwick. 
Violent storms appeared on Oakland beach.  Officials told ABC6 that eleven people were knocked out of their boats and into the water. 
 
"The storms started coming in, and then before you know it they’re drifting as far as the eye could see,” John Rappa, a witness, told ABC6 news. 
 
A motorboat carrying 9 teenagers and a sailboat with two men on board capsized. 
 
"They were already out there and then the storm came in and made everything worse,” Tony Otrando, another witness said. He saw the motorboat, stranded on the water. 
 
The marine task force was deployed as a precaution. With the help of a local fishing boat, everyone made it out unharmed. 
 
"Luckily everyone was wearing a life jacket, and everyone safely and successfully got to shore,” said Dean Hoxsie, Environmental Police chief.