A man runs through deep water across a street in downtown Providence during yesterday afternoon’s storm.

>

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

Mother Nature unleashed her power on Rhode Island yesterday, sending a deluge of severe thunderstorms that hammered the state in a fast-moving sweep that knocked out power for thousands, created flash flooding and closures on major roadways and gave one man the shock of his life.

And the rains are not done yet.

According to meteorologist Alan Dunham from the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., Rhode Islanders will see more showers and thunderstorms off and on throughout today.

“What we have is a moist tropical air mass, with a slowly approaching cold front,” Dunham said. “As this front gets closer, we will see more. We have so much water sitting in the atmosphere, that [the clouds] can drop a tremendous amount of water in a short amount of time. You could see 1 to 2 inches of rain fall in an hour.”

The Weather Service said about 1.66 inches of rain fell at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. Despite many calls, there was no confirmation that a tornado touched down anywhere in the state, Dunham said.

“We have several reports of funnel clouds. We will constantly go over and look at new damage reports. We did get a report of a water spout on Narragansett Bay,” he said.

Nicholas Caisse, 23, a firefighter from Barrington, was among those who saw what looked like a tornado and he captured it in a photo.

“I just came out to get a better view of the storm and I saw the lightning. I had my camera,” he said.

Multiple factors, such as lightning, as well as high winds and fallen limbs likely contributed to widespread power failures in several communities.

Shortly before 6 last night, National Grid had reported that about 8,600 customers lost power during the storms. Exeter was hit the hardest, with about 1,500 customers losing power, and East Greenwich had about 1,400 customers without service, according to National Grid spokesman David Graves. Crews were expected to work through the night to restore power.

The torrential downpours did not cause many serious injuries, according to the police. But the heavy rains brought down trees and limbs in people’s yards. It flooded dozens of main thoroughfares in many communities, leaving cars stranded, and shut down many roads.

Shortly after the afternoon downpour, a high tension wire over Route 195 in East Providence gave way and the police there reduced westbound to a single lane. A power line had become detached and was in jeopardy of falling onto the highway. While eastbound traffic was not affected, westbound motorists got jammed, as crews from National Grid hustled to make repairs. Work continued into the night. The highway opened to three lanes at about 8 p.m. last night.

The storm created other headaches for some Rhode Islanders.

As lightning sparked around the state, a West Greenwich man received a quick jolt while using an electric circular saw in his garage on John Potter Road, the police said.

Michael Petrarca refused medical treatment, said Chief Ronald Lepre. The lighting must have “surged through the lines and through the electric saw and into his arm. It zapped him a little bit,” Lepre said.

Petrarca’s wife called the police. Sgt. Richard Brown and the West Greenwich Rescue squad was sent out, hydroplaned en route to the home and crashed into some mailboxes along Route 102, Lepre said. Brown received minor injuries and was taken to Kent Hospital as a precaution.

lsparks@projo.com