As of Monday morning, Boston has received nearly 5.0 inches of rain, while Concord, Bedford and Milton, Mass., have received more than 6.5 inches of rain. Farther south, Elizabeth, N.J., was inundated by 7.04 inches of rain.

On Sunday, flooding was widespread with very serious flooding across portions of Massachusetts. Mudslides occurred along Route 1 in Topsfield, Mass., forcing the road to be closed. Several other roads were closed in the area due to river flooding.

More flooding of low-lying and poor drainage areas and areas along streams and rivers will occur today and tonight. In fact, there could be record stages reached along some rivers.

At Winchester, Mass., the Aberjona River is in major flood stages, less than a foot away from the record flood stage of 16.8 feet. The Pawtuxet River at Cranston, R.I., will come close to the old record flood stage of 14.5 feet today.

More roads and highways could be inundated by flood waters, forcing officials to close them. If you come across a road with water over it, turn around and find an alternate route. The extra time it will take to get to your destination can save your life.

Many people will also be dealing with basement flooding.

Rivers across the region will remain in flood stage for days despite a return of dry weather at the end of the week. The Pawtuxet River at Cranston, R.I., southwest of Providence, has actually risen past record flood stage. Numerous homes have taken on floodwaters, and more could be threatened over the next few days. Road closures due to flooding will continue to be a problem as well.

There have been numerous reports of flooded roadways and road closures around the New York City area and southern Connecticut. Flight delays were averaging 1 to 2 hours in Philadelphia, Boston and New York City's JFK and La Guardia Airports through Tuesday afternoon.

Rainfall totals since Monday have reached 2 to 4 inches across a large area from eastern North Carolina to Maine. Around a dozen daily rainfall records were broken across this region Monday. In the zone of the heaviest rain, which targeted southern New England through early Tuesday afternoon, rainfall totals have reached up to 5 to 7 inches.

Boston, Mass., and Providence, R.I., have both received more than enough rain to make this month the wettest March on record. As of 4 p.m. EDT this afternoon, monthly totals had reached 14.23 inches in Boston and 15.84 inches in Providence.

Meanwhile, 4.34 inches of rain in New York City's Central Park through 7 p.m. this evening has brought this month's rainfall total to 10.59 inches. This makes this month the wettest March on record for the city.

The worst arrived in the early hours of Wednesday, an indomitable force of water creeping ever higher through the darkness. Thousands of tired homeowners watched their basement steps incrementally vanish beneath it. Soaked National Guardsmen along Route 95 in Warwick saw it spill over the sandbags they had worked for hours to stack.

By dawn, the unparalleled flood had transformed the Rhode Island landscape into islands of isolation, the region’s web of roadways broken, whole sections of neighborhoods stranded and without power.

Gridlock greeted thousands of commuters weaving like mice through a maze of alternate routes around Route 95, the state’s most vital transportation artery, closed in Warwick by the flooding Pawtuxet River.

And with a half-dozen sewage treatment plants compromised or overwhelmed by the most destructive flood in the state’s recorded history, officials braced for an environmental disaster with huge public health and financial ramifications.

Governor Carcieri shut down state government and urged people to stay home. In the epicenter of grief –– the Pawtuxet River basin where hundreds of homes were already submerged –– the water continued to rise to levels never before seen.

Anthony Pennoyer looked out the front window of his brown colonial at 205 Greenwich Ave., in Warwick, and watched a 4-foot deep torrent flowing by the Warwick Mall a quarter-mile away, just one of numerous retail centers now closed indefinitely.