PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (WHDH) – Construction crews are racing against time to repair a road destroyed by remnants of Ida that moved through the Ocean State on Thursday.
Debbie Furtado says she was on her way to work when the pavement on Fairview Lane buckled and her vehicle gave out as she drove through Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
“It collapsed under me,” she recalled. “I hit that corner and I heard this crash. The whole road fell down under me.”
Her car was left dangling over the collapsed roadway.
“I had to crawl out of the car on the other side, so I opened the door, I couldn’t put it in reverse, so I was shaken up,” she said.
Furtado says she is glad it didn’t happen later in the day.
“I’m grateful it happened then because the bus comes down that road on that side,” she added.
Neighbors told 7NEWS that a drainage system goes under the street.
“I think that this was worse than the hurricane that hit us,” said neighbor Paul Trombly.
“The drainage is all on that side of the road, so it looks like everything’s undermined where the drainage is,” another resident added.
A cottage down the road had nearly 4 feet of water in its basement as a result of the heavy rain that passed through overnight.
Crews worked to remove the crumbled pavement on Fairview Lane and filled the gaping holes with large stones.
Repairs are expected to take some time as the drainage system needs to be rebuilt, but officials hope to make the road passable by Friday morning.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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