Parts of New England are bracing for more dangerous flooding as heavy rain continues and the threat of Hurricane Lee looms along the coast.
The rain has already caused potholes and devastating flooding, with some places seeing 10 inches of rainfall in 6 hours. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Tuesday night after the incident.
Flash flood warnings were issued for parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island as rain began again Wednesday.
Dean Mazzarella, the mayor of Leominster, Massachusetts, said much of the city was flooded and some buildings had collapsed.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Lee is moving north in the Atlantic Ocean, and is expected to pose a hurricane threat to coastal areas in the Northeast as it gets closer.
According to the National Hurricane Center forecast, it is possible that the storm could make landfall on the eastern coast of Maine as a hurricane.
“Turricane conditions, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding are possible across parts of eastern Maine on Saturday and a hurricane watch has been issued for that area,” the National Hurricane Center said. wrote on wednesday,
A tropical storm watch was in effect from Watch Hill, Rhode Island to Stonington, Maine; Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket.
The last hurricane to have a significant impact on Maine was Hurricane Bob in 1991, It was responsible for three deaths and caused more than $5 million in damage.