Tropical Storm Henri Makes Landfall In Rhode Island

Tropical Storm Henri hit the coast of Rhode Island Sunday afternoon, packing high winds that knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and bands of rain that led to flash flooding from New Jersey to Massachusetts.

The storm was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but still had sustained winds of about 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

There were few early reports of major damage due to wind or surf, but officials warned of the danger of spot flooding in inland areas over the next few days.

Millions on New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for the possibility of flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages.

National Grid reported 74,000 customers without power in Rhode Island and EverSource is reporting nearly 20,000 customers out in Connecticut.

Several major bridges in Rhode Island, which stitch together much of the state, were briefly shuttered Sunday, and some coastal roads were nearly impassable.

Rhode Island has been hit by hurricanes and tropical storms periodically — including Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Bob in 1991. The city of Providence sustained so much flooding damage from a hurricane in 1938 and Hurricane Carol in 1954 that it built a hurricane barrier in the 1960s to protect its downtown from a storm surge coming up Narragansett Bay. That barrier — and newer gates built nearby — were closed Sunday.