EAST BAY — Members of Bristol's fire police shut down a portion of Thames Street between Oliver and Bradford streets Thursday morning because of heavy flooding. Commuting traffic throughout Bristol and Warren cautiously navigated parts of Metacom Avenue and Child Street, in Warren, sending up spray and leaving wakes as they plowed through deep water.

Flooding on Warren's Main Street near the Warren Bridge was backed up traffic as a tow truck removed a stalled Volvo from knee-deep water. It was much the same on Thames, where a tow truck pulled a stalled Mini Cooper from the floodwaters. One police officer on the scene said the situation would have been much worse if the rains came at high tide. One bright spot? There was no flooding at normally flood-prone Silver Creek, which just received a major overhaul by DOT contractors.