March 31, 2010
By: Carrie Van Brunt
Record setting rainfalls hit the Northeast on Tuesday with officials having to mobilize National Guard soldiers in the especially hard hit areas of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The National Weather Service said rainfall for March made it the wettest March on record for many areas. A state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts by Governor Deval Patrick as rivers rose toward flood stage.
"We’ve had two 50-year storms in the course of two to three weeks," Patrick said while at the state highway barn, where Massachusetts National Guard members filled sandbags. "This could cause floodwaters to rise very, very fast."
Flooded homes and closed roads are now the norm for many residents in the Northeast.
The federal flood insurance program closed within the last week because Congress adjourned before they could vote on an extension of the program. An extension of the National Flood Insurance Program was a provision included in the unemployment benefits bill Congress was unable to agree upon.
No new policies can be issued during a lapse in NFIP authorization but consumers with current flood insurance policies remain covered.
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