Storm Henri caused strong wind and rainfall in the northeastern United States. On Sunday, he first reached the coast of Rhode Island. He then shut down power to more than 100,000 homes in New England. There were several floods. Roads flooded, bridges became impassable. Many people were stuck in their vehicles.
The storm had been downgraded from a hurricane before reaching New England. According to the National Hurricane Center, Henri moved inland with gusts of up to 70 miles per hour (about 113 km/h). So far, only a few major damages from wind or flood have been reported. However, several bridges in Rhode Island were briefly closed, some coastal roads were almost impassable.
Several communities in central New Jersey were flooded with up to 20 centimeters of rain by Sunday noon. In Jamesburg, television footage showed flooded downtown streets and cars almost completely submerged. In the afternoon, more than 78,000 homes in Rhode Island, 32,000 in Connecticut, 9,000 in Massachusetts and 4,000 in New York were affected by power outages.
Rhode Island has always been ravaged by hurricanes and tropical storms, including Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Irene in 2011, and Hurricane Bob in 1991. The city of Providence suffered so much flood damage from a hurricane in 1938 and Hurricane Carol in 1954 that it built a hurricane protection wall in the 1960s. This was closed on Sunday.
