Mayor Collects Signatures for Flood Relief

The Warren Avenue area of East Providence near Seekonk saw flooding Saturday, as backed up water from the Runnins River overflowed into the city, damaging basements in area homes, Mayor Bruce Rogers said.

A narrow culvert pipe which runs under Warren Avenue is regarded as the culprit, as the current size is not able to regulate the amount of water and pressure. High development and road paving over the border in Massachusetts is also been suspected, as they alter natural water pathways, he said.

The mayor walked the neighborhood Saturday with roughly 20 people, gathering 60 signatures for a petition on behalf of the residents impacted by flooding.

The petition was aimed at solidifying the case for East Providence receiving disaster funds already secured by by Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse. The funds, which would be awarded by a Disaster- Community Development Block Grant, total $2.2 million. State officials will determine which municipalities should receive the funding. 

The city has also applied for a $2 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the widening of the Warren Avenue culvert pipe to prevent future flooding.

Rogers spoke in a phone interview about the need for such funds to be applied to East Providence and how he thought the petition would help.

"Having these signatures strengthens the case for our city getting this relief," he said. "It could mean the difference between [other cities] getting it and us."

The flooding could cause problems for businesses as well as home owners. Some of the homes within vicinity of the flooding have either been vacant or for sale. This, Rogers said, further highlights the need to secure grant funding.

"There are people who are trying to sell their homes and may not get a healthy return when they sell, if this issue is not taken care of," he said. "Home values have gone down too far already."

Rogers went on to say that the response he received from the homes he visited were positive, in that many people were "happy to see so much progress made."

Plans to build a retention pond more than three acres of donated land in the Commercial Way area of the city are also being pursued.