WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – The worst flooding this city has seen in decades gave Eric Plikunas and his family a rude awakening early Saturday morning. When the roof caved in and drenched his apartment, Plikunas woke up and felt water dripping on his head.

“I thought I was dreaming. I woke up and my girlfriend was lying in a puddle of water,” the 22-year-old said hours later at a Worcester high school that the Red Cross turned into a makeshift shelter.

Gov. Mitt Romney declared a state of emergency Saturday as heavy rains sent rivers and streams rising above flood stage, swamping roads, forcing hundreds to evacuate their homes and leaving dams at risk of bursting.

Romney said the state is suffering the “Noah effect” of a steady week of heavy rainfall. Parts of the state have seen 15 inches of rain fall over the past nine days, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton.

“It didn’t come in one big dam burst. It instead came in a slow buildup,” Romney said during a news conference at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s underground headquarters.

No injuries or deaths were immediately reported. The Massachusetts National Guard was on standby in case local authorities needed help evacuating residents from their homes.

Romney said damage from the flooding is expected to exceed $6.5 million, which would make the state eligible for federal reimbursement.

“What began as a serious rain storm is now becoming a much more threatening condition,” he said.

The rain was expected to taper off Saturday evening, but authorities were bracing for high winds, which could knock over trees and rip down power and phone lines.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and southern New Hampshire, with a steady northwest wind of 25 to 35 miles per hour and gusts of more than 50 miles per hour.

In Southbridge, a central Massachusetts town just north of the Connecticut border, flooding forced about 400 residents of a housing complex to seek refuge at a local high school.

“The water was just so high. We decided to get them out as a precaution,” said Police Officer Brian Maska.

MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said authorities in Southbridge were prepared to evacuate 6,000 more residents if a dam in town appeared to be on the verge of breaking. MEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers also dispatched teams to inspect dams in Holland, Oxford, Monson and Brimfield.

“We’re concerned that some could give way,” Romney said.

In Worcester, flooding in a low-lying industrial area swept away about 30 cars and forced a police officer to climb out his cruiser’s window to escape the rising water. Two or three boxcars in the area’s rail yard were lifted up by the floods, pushing them into the street, police said.

Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme said this is the worst flooding he’s seen in the city in his more than 20 years on the force.

“This is not the type of city where you expect this kind of flooding,” he said.

Worcester Mayor Tim Murray said 50 to 60 people had been evacuated from their homes in that city, and most were seeking shelter with friends and family. Overnight, dozens of motorists had to be rescued by police and firefighters after they drove into puddles of water more than six feet deep.

“It was a real crazy night,” Gemme said.

In Monson, two roads and a bridge were washed out, stranding residents and hampering emergency access to one neighborhood. In Framingham, 300 to 400 residents of an apartment complex were evacuated to a middle school because an electrical transformer was under water.

Flooding also disrupted Amtrak service in the Northeast Corridor and closed highways across the state.

A stretch of Interstate 91 just south of Springfield was shut down, and state police said it could take up to two days to repair.

In North Attleborough, Route 1’s northbound lanes were closed in two places because the Ten Mile River overflowed.

Interstates 290 and 146 also were closed for several hours Saturday morning due to flooding.

Amtrak canceled Shoreline East service from New Haven to Providence and Boston because of water on the tracks near Providence, spokesman Marc Magliari said. Service between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., was also canceled because of high water north of New Haven. Magliari said repairs were expected to be completed Saturday night and normal service would resume Sunday.

Amtrak officials attempted to find charter buses to shuttle passengers between the cities, but they were unable to do so because of a large gathering elsewhere in the region.