Homeland Security chief flies over RI flooding, says she’s considering plea for more aid

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Napolitano tours RI flooding, considers more aid

WARWICK, R.I. — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano flew over flooded swaths of Rhode Island on Friday, calling the damage significant and saying she’s considering a plea by officials for additional federal money for the economically battered state.

Some areas of the state were still under water after three days of pounding rain throughout the Northeast this week sent rivers overflowing to record levels, hitting several states but slamming Rhode Island harder than any other.

The National Weather Service said it did not expect the Pawtuxet River, source of much of the flooding, to go below flood stage until at least Sunday.

President Barack Obama had already declared a disaster in much of the state. That triggers some federal money, but the state is required to pick up a portion of the costs of the disaster response.

In a news conference with Napolitano on Friday, the state’s congressional delegation reiterated its requests sent in a letter to Napolitano for the federal government to waive the requirement for the state to pay a portion.

Napolitano said Friday that Congress has strict laws about whether states qualify for the waiver, but that she would work with state officials on their application.

“No decision has been made,” she said.

The congressional delegation has also asked that a major disaster declaration be extended to the entire state, which Napolitano said they were working on.

Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Jim Langevin, whose district was hardest hit, also pressed for the government to give help in the form of grants, rather than loans, given the state’s dire financial situation. It has had years of budget problems; the deficit now stands at $220 million and the unemployment rate is at 12.7 percent, third worst in the country.

“We were already reeling from a bad economy. This is the last thing that Rhode Island could deal with, and yet, here we are,” said Langevin, whose district was hardest hit. “Families, individuals, businesses need the help, as soon as possible.”

Carcieri has said the worst flooding to hit the state in at least 200 years might have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Shopping malls, small businesses and mills are still under water, and in places where the water receded, they were covered with gunk. Napolitano said that it was fortunate that no one died, and that she was encouraged by how well Rhode Islanders were coping, calling them “tough.”

Still, many Rhode Islanders wondered what was next.

One of those was Kenneth Guilmette, 60, who for 20 years worked at Bradford Printing and Finishing in Westerly. On Thursday, he watched as gray water from the Pawcatuck River swirled around engulfed the 103-year-old textile mill, surrounding its brown brick buildings and smokestack. In the distance, the roof of a submerged red Ford Mustang — left behind by someone in the rush to get out before floodwaters invaded — was barely visible.

Guilmette thought about the future of the mill, and his job as third shift fireman in the boiler room.

“I worked here a long time, put a lot of sweat into the place myself,” he said Thursday morning. “To see it swamped like this is a terrible thing. A terrible thing. Especially just before retirement.”

“I can tell you I’m sick to my stomach about it. I’m afraid. I’m afraid of losing my livelihood here,” he said.

State officials said they could give no estimate of the number of workers idled by closings, but many small businesses were affected.

In downtown Westerly, the raging Pawcatuck River ran under a Route 1 bridge that links Westerly and Pawcatuck, Conn., prompting authorities to close it as a safety measure.

At Bradford Printing, which has been printing camouflage uniforms for the U.S. military for decades, the fear among the approximately 50 workers was that it might never reopen because of the flood damage.

“I don’t want to say it’s going to put us out of business, because it might not,” said Dan Kenyon, 49, the boiler room manager. “We’re certainly going to have a lot to look at when the water goes down. I don’t want to make assumptions about what we’ll see when that happens.

“I like to be optimistic, but it’s quite a disaster,” he said.

Associated Press writers John Curran in Westerly, and Eric Tucker and Michelle R. Smith in Providence contributed to this report.