Cranston closely watching high flood waters

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Heavy rains in Cranston caused some neighborhood flooding Tuesday afternoon.

Cranston Fire Chief James Warren said he is concerned about flooding from the Pawtuxet River but they’re not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Fletcher Avenue in Cranston experienced ankle deep flood waters.

“Public works department cleaned out the storm drains this past week, and the past couple of weeks, we’re just staying on top of it, observing. If we need to relocate people we’ll open up our emergency shelter,” said Warren.

Warren also said the areas flooding in Cranston are the usual areas, like Fletcher Avenue, Perkins Avenue off of Elmwood and the Pawtuxet Village area.

Officials said they don’t expect the river to reach its highest point until Wednesday night, which could be 10 and a half feet higher than usual.

Warren said homes that experience flooding can call the Cranston Fire Department for help.

“We just don’t want it to get into peoples houses, that’s one of our big things, people losing power, some pumps don’t run, it just creates more flooding in the house and we end up pumping some of their basements out,” said Warren.

The high waters make it hard for some area residents, as more storm related elements could be coming the city’s way.

“We know it’s going to snow some time tonight, some heavy winds tonight, power outages, if you’re running a generator keep it from your house, twenty feet from your house, be careful with candles, stay vigilant,” Warren explained.

Cranston officials said the city is keeping an eye on flooding and potential outages.