Post-Henri Power Restoration Expected To Take 'Days' In RI

NEWPORT, RI — Tropical Storm Henri quickly swept through Rhode Island Sunday, leaving a trail of power outages and damage in its wake. As the skies cleared, crews got to work statewide, beginning what is expected to be a days-long process of power restoration.

At its peak, the storm knocked out power to more than 100,000 households, said Terry Sobolewski, the president of National Grid Rhode Island. Since the storm abated Sunday afternoon, crews restored power to about 31,000 customers, with plans to step up restoration efforts once high wind gusts fully die down around 8 p.m.

The storm was not as bad as it could have been, though some additional flooding could be possible with the shifting tides, said the director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.

"We dodged a pretty good bullet here," Marc Pappas said.

Even as weather conditions improved, Gov. Dan McKee urged residents to stay home Sunday night, allowing emergency responders to get to work on recovery efforts.

"We'll see the green light very shortly," McKee said during his 4 p.m. news conference. "The important work of recovery must begin promptly."

South County was hit the hardest by the storm, with widespread outages across Washington County, especially along the coast. It will take several days to fully assess damage, McKee said, reminding residents to stay away from any downed trees, wires or any debris.

See power outages by county on National Grid's website, or check out the interactive power outage map.

Restoration efforts are still expected to take several days, Sobolewski said. Crews will start with the largest clusters of outages, he said, with smaller, individual outages expected to take the longest to address. Full restoration is expected to be complete in less than a week.

All state-run COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites closed on Sunday. Testing sites will reopen Monday, McKee said, and anyone who missed their appointment will be able to walk up to a site Monday without needing to reschedule. Westerly testing sites will remain closed Monday, and are expected to reopen Tuesday.

All pop-up vaccination clinics scheduled for Monday will be rescheduled, the governor continued, while Tuesday clinics will be held as scheduled.

Ahead of the storm, the American Red Cross of Rhode Island opened several emergency shelters. The Warwick and Cumberland sites were closed Sunday evening, Executive Director Susan Roberts said, while the Middletown and South Kingstown sites will remain open. The Westerly regional site will be on standby, and can be operational, along with any closed site, within 4 hours.

Storm Impacts

The storm made landfall near Westerly at 12:15 p.m., the National Weather Service said. Following a morning of heavy rain and wind gusts, the eye of the storm arrived in the early afternoon, with conditions continuing to improve heading into the evening hours.

"We are currently in the eye of the storm," Gov. Dan McKee said around 1:45 p.m. "We met with town officials [in Westerly] and emergency management leaders to survey its impact so far. We saw significant flooding in areas and power outages throughout much of the town."

Early Sunday morning, a buoy off the coast of Block Island reported wave swells over 19 feet, the weather service said.

A satellite video showed the storm taking aim at the region Sunday morning, ahead of direct landfall.

Early wind damage and rain reports from the National Weather Service showed high wind gusts and heavy rainfall in Rhode Island. In reports recorded between 11 a.m. and 11:40 a.m., 2 inches of rainfall were recorded in Coventry, while South Kingstown saw 2.48 inches and Westerly recorded 2.73 inches.

Here's a look at initial wind gusts reports from around the state.

• Newport: 68 mph, 10:45 a.m.
• Halfway Rock: 68 mph, 10:45 a.m.
• Point Judith: 70 mph, 10:57 a.m.
• Block Island Jetty: 69 mph, 10:32 a.m.
• New Shoreham: 67 mph, 9:59 a.m.
• Ninigret Pond: 58 mph, 10:49 a.m.

Road closures, travel restrictions

Sunday morning, Gov. McKee implemented a travel ban for motorcycles and tractor-trailer trucks, except those carrying emergency supplies. The ban went into effect at 11 a.m. and was lifted at 4 p.m.

"Drivers of all other types of vehicles are expected to use good judgment and stay off the roads until Henri has passed and the roads are clear of debris," the Rhode Island Department of Transportation said.

Following a restriction on large vehicles put in place Sunday morning, the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority announced around 11:15 a.m. that the Newport Pell, Portsmouth Mount Hope and Jamestown Verrazzanno bridges were closed to all vehicle traffic. The bridges were reopened to traffic around 1 p.m., with large vehicle restrictions still in place. All bridge restrictions were lifted by 2:30 p.m.

Nearly all flights into and out of Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport Sunday were canceled or severely delayed. Check the airport's arrivals and departures pages for information about specific flights.

The Block Island ferry canceled all trips Sunday, saying service will resume "as sea conditions permit." RIDOT also canceled all scheduled trips on the Providence to Newport fast ferry for Sunday. Fast ferry service is expected to resume Tuesday, the department said.