LEOMINSTER, Mass. (NEWSnet/AP) — Hurricane Lee looks poised to affect New England's weather later this week even as the region cleans up from torrential rain, flooding, sinkholes and a likely tornado.

A hurricane watch stretches from Stonington, Maine to the U.S.-Canadian border, where hurricane conditions, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding are possible Friday night and Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday night.

[Track the Storm: National Hurricane Center]

Areas from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, to Stonington, Maine — including Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket — are under a tropical storm watch.

A storm surge watch has also been issued for Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket with the potential for life-threatening flooding there late Friday and Saturday.

The looming arrival of the hurricane threatened to unleash more violent storms on a region that earlier in the week saw 10 inches of rain that fall over six hours and on Wednesday saw communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island deal with tornado warnings and more heavy rain that opened up sinkholes and brought devastating flooding to several areas.

The National Weather Service in Boston said radar data and videos showed it was likely that a tornado damaged trees and power lines in Rhode Island and Connecticut on Wednesday. In Lincoln, Rhode Island, photos after the storm showed at least one roof damaged and the press box at the high school stadium tipped into the bleachers.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said on social media that the state's emergency operations center was activated and would be monitoring the fast-changing weather conditions over the next few days.

“The best thing you can do right now: Stay tuned for frequent updates,” McKee said.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a state of emergency late Tuesday, following the “catastrophic flash flooding and property damage” in two counties and other communities. The torrential downpour in a six hour period earlier in the week was a “200-year event," said Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston.

The rain created several sinkholes in Leominster, Massachusetts, including one at a dealership where several cars were swallowed up. In Providence, Rhode Island, downpours flooded a parking lot and parts of a shopping mall. Firefighters used inflatable boats to rescue more than two dozen people stranded in cars.

With that rain damage, the timing of Hurricane Lee is not welcome.

“The ground is saturated. It can't take in anymore,” Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said at a news conference Wednesday.

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