(Updated, 5:20 p.m.)

PROVIDENCE – The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stopped running commuter rails trains to Providence this afternoon as the region continued to be hammered by the worst flooding in decades.

With no trains able to make the journey, the MBTA has been running a bus shuttle from South Attleboro to the Providence train station since about 2 p.m. “Expect significant delays and seek alternate transportation from South Attleboro,” the agency warned. Updates are available at mbta.com.

The Associated Press reported that some Amtrak trains in Rhode Island and Connecticut, including the high-speed Acela service, were being delayed by the storm. Some flights were delayed or canceled at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, according to the R.I. Airport Corporation’s Web site.

The impact of the flooding has been felt by a wide range of organizations. The General Assembly cancelled its afternoon session and all three state colleges have shut down. The Warwick Mall closed after its parking lot became a swimming pool, and the R.I. Public Transit Authority has detoured 12 bus routes.

“We are in uncharted territory,” Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said in a press conference earlier Tuesday. He has called in the National Guard to assist with flood control, and warned this afternoon that I-95 might have to be closed.

Warwick, Exeter-West Greenwich and Chariho have already announced that their public schools will be closed on Wednesday. An up-to-date list of cancellations is available at ribroadcasters.com/News_and_Events/Closings_Delays.

The heaviest rain was coming to an end by 4:10 p.m. and was likely to end by 9 p.m., the National Weather Service said in a statement. But an additional band of heavy showers may bring another quarter-inch to half-inch of rain before the storm ends, and flooding is expected to continue tonight.

The weather service declared a flood emergency at 5 p.m. for the Pawtuxet River in Cranston and the Blackstone River in Woonsocket. A flood warning is in effect until 11:45 p.m. across much of Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts. “This is a dangerous situation,” the agency said.

Between 7 and 10 inches of rain is expected to fall in Rhode Island before the storm is over.

The agency is discouraging “unnecessary travel” this afternoon and evening as flooding overtakes areas across the Interstate 95 corridor from Southern Rhode Island north to Boston.

“Turn around – don’t drown,” the weather service said, adding that most flood deaths occur in vehicles, and flood waters are often deeper than they appear.

The R.I. Department of Transportation has posted a list of closed roads at dot.ri.gov/Flooded_streets_March2010.asp. DOT is also using Google Maps to share information on road closings:


View Rhode Island State Road Flooding in a larger map

March 2010 is now Providence’s wettest month in 100 years of records, with 15.39 inches having fallen on the city as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. The previous record was 15.38 inches in October 2005.

The Blackstone, Pawtuxet and Woonasquatucket rivers have all reached record levels and are continuing to rise. Flooding along the Blackstone was the worst since Hurricane Connie and Tropical Storm Diane, both in 1955, according to the weather service.

The governor’s office has released the phone numbers for local emergency agencies in Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns. Residents with flood-related questions or concerns can call these numbers:

Some National Grid customers in East Providence, Hopkinton, West Warwick and Westerly have had their electricity turned off at the request of officials. The utility also requested that customers conserve electricity this evening in order to avoid blackouts.

National Grid is posting information on storm-related electricity outages at nationalgridus.com/narragansett/stormcenter.

U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to include the entire state in a “major disaster declaration” he issued on Monday for four counties in response to earlier flooding. The president’s action allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist state and local officials.

Workers who have been temporarily laid off because of the storm can apply for unemployment benefits, and some may be eligible to collect immediately if their employers get a special waiver, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training said.

For more information, employers – but not workers – can call DLT at (401) 462-8999 or e-mail uiemployerhelp@dlt.ri.gov. Workers can visit dlt.ri.gov or call (401) 243-9100 for more information.

Additional information is available at riema.ri.gov.

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