DHS official: Napolitano to tour flooded Rhode Island on Friday, assess weather’s damages

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DHS official: Napolitano to tour flood-damaged RI

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to travel to Rhode Island on Friday to assess damage caused by the worst flooding there in 200 years, a department official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because Napolitano’s trip hadn’t been formally announced.

This week’s flooding in Rhode Island is widespread and comes after flooding earlier this month prompted President Barack Obama to declare most of the state a disaster area.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, said he spoke with Napolitano on Wednesday to ask her urgently to visit the state. Whitehouse spent Tuesday and Wednesday visiting flood-damaged homes and businesses, including one company in Cumberland he had to enter by boat.

“I hope that it will show Rhode Islanders, some of whom are feeling pretty beleaguered after a tough economy, a flood, a cleanup after the flood and then, bam, another one, that they are being heard in the highest levels of the Obama administration,” Whitehouse told the AP.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said the visit would “show Secretary Napolitano firsthand the enormous challenges families, businesses and communities across the state are facing and get them the help they need.”

Obama this week issued an emergency declaration in Rhode Island, ordering federal aid for relief and authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate efforts.

Associated Press writer Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report.