Rhode Island Floods Cause State of Emergency

I've taken in a family that was evacuated from their home - including a cat. Where are they supposed to go?
It's been raining...and raining... for several days. Now I'm not just complaining here because my car window does not go up all the way (although it doesn't, making for some bad-hair days galore). A few weeks ago residents of my town, West Warwick, had to evacuate their homes due to the Pawtuxet River flooding in record levels. A quick drive past the area saw neighbors rushing to pile sandbags in front of their homes. Many local businesses were shut down due to damage and have remained that way since...and until Sunday when it started to rain again.

Photo courtesy of Wbru. (cc).

The President has declared Rhode Island in a state of emergency and the Governor has asked that people go home and/or stay off the roads. Last I heard we had almost no suburban roads open and there was talk of shutting down the highway (route 95, our major artery.)
It seems silly that I would post something as trivial as rain, but it's going to affect lots of people and I really hope these residents can get some assistance. My own ceiling is leaking, but luckily I have the condo association hiring roofers to fix that.
Excerpt from my hometown news: "I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Diana Lumpkin, who watched a sand box float across her flooded back yard. Sand bags are piled high around their cellar door to little avail. The river is flooding inside . Read more of this article here.
I hopped over to the EMA's state website  to see what advice I could give my boyfriend's family who I've told can stay at my house for now, but there is no information there as to what these evacuees are supposed to do. Put in an insurance claim? But they're not in a flood zone, technically. It's only due to fear that a certain river is going to overflow that police have put this in place. I don't know what they're going to do, hopefully the rain will subside before anything happens to their home. Please send your thoughts our way...
xo Mary