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MARCH 8, 2011 -- NOTE: WInchester Grange is mentioned at the end of this article.
People fled to high ground Monday as an overnight storm fed floodwaters along the Housatonic and Pomperaug rivers.
The water rose rapidly Sunday night into early Monday, washing over parked cars and driving houses into the Housatonic River along Route 34 in Oxford. Dozens of homes were evacuated in Southbury and Oxford, and many more were flooded in New Milford.
About 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell across the area, but the impact was amplified by snow melt and frozen ground. Most rivers and tributaries crested by mid-afternoon.
Officials in Oxford said the flood may be the worst the town has seen in 15 years.
Fire departments across the region responded to basement floods. In some towns, firefighters walked door to door to check homes along rivers to make sure residents had safely fled.
Southbury resident Victor Swyrydenko and his wife, Barbara, watched as the Pomperaug River crept up their backyard overnight at their Pomperaug Trail home.
By 3 a.m. Monday, the couple decided to leave their home, taking a canoe to pack supplies and help their neighbors.
They were evacuated with others to the Center Firehouse on Main Street South, where members of the Southbury Volunteer Firemen's Association provided food and worked with disaster crews from the American Red Cross.
Barbara Swyrydenko said she packed a bag of clothes and her phone chargers, and said they planned to stay with relatives in Shelton for the night.
"We go back every few hours to check on it and see how much the water has gone down," she said. "The ladies here at the firehouse and the volunteers have been great to us. It's a wonderful group of people to help us through this situation."
Floodgates at the Stevenson Dam on Route 34 were fully open as the Housatonic River surged more than 10 feet above its flood level, reaching a maximum height of 21.7 feet.
Oxford Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said five parked cars were dragged away by the Housatonic, but no one was injured.
The fire department had worked since Sunday evening warning residents living along the river on Route 34. Most residents left to stay with relatives, Pelletier said Monday.
About seven families were displaced, he said.
"We had about 10 homes affected, but most of the residents left early," Pelletier said.
In New Milford the waters of the Housatonic began lapping against the foundations of homes on Housatonic Avenue early Monday. Resident Frances Pennington said she has seen several floods during her 33 years in the neighborhood, but this one was different.
"It came in real fast," she said. "I barely got my car out."
With about one foot of water in her basement, Pennington said her furnace was dead, so she would stay elsewhere until the water recedes.
"Until the water goes down I can't assess the damage," she said.
The Southbury Volunteer Firemen's Association used a ladder truck to pull one man from a home on Manor Road where the water had already reached window-level by mid-morning, and at least 20 families voluntarily evacuated their homes in the area of River and Flood Bridge roads.
Southbury Fire Chief Rick Lyle said evacuees were taken to the firehouse on Main Street South as a precaution. It was unclear how many could return to their homes Monday evening.
Public works crews were also busy trying to divert traffic around Route 67 near the Oxford town line where some water had flooded the roadway.
First Selectman H. William Davis Jr. said firefighters in Morris lent the fire department a boat to check homes along the Pomperaug River, which crested near 14 feet — six feet above flood stage. He said the town would apply for emergency financial aid from state and federal agencies.
Mirjam Picard, a Hillside Road resident, walked with her sons Lucas, 4, and Joshua, 1, to Manor Road, which was still partially submerged early Monday afternoon. She said she was unaware of the extent of flooding until she heard the Region 15 school district had closed for the day.
"It's just amazing that this can happen right around the corner from your house," Picard said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to activate the state's Emergency Operations Center to monitor floodwaters across the region. While the department offered to send National Guard troops to Southbury, town officials refused the help because they said the town had enough volunteers to handle it.
While the floodwaters are expected to recede today and Wednesday, officials are already watching another storm that could impact the state later in the week.
Burlington-based meteorologist John J. Bagioni said if conditions remain stagnant until Thursday, the coming storm has the potential to cause even more damage.
"The fear is that this storm was the table-setter," Bagioni said. "We're primed for even more flooding if a similar weather pattern holds Thursday into Friday. We won't have a good idea until Wednesday about how it will impact the area."
For many, the flooding simply became a spectacle.
Dozens of people drove to watch the Stevenson Dam in Oxford along Route 34 roar like Niagara Falls while hikers traced paths along a raging brook at Southford Falls State Park in Southbury. The pounding water at the dam shook the ground where lines of curious spectators snapped photos with their phones.
"Holy mackerel," said Shelton resident Bob Zaleski as he watched the water thunder through the dam. "I haven't seen anything like that in 25 years. I heard it was rough, but I didn't expect it to be this furious and violent."
Elsewhere in the region:
In Naugatuck, a section of Rubber Avenue was closed for several hours early Monday after Long Meadow Brook overflowed, covering the road with three feet of water and damaging a section of road.
Naugatuck Public Schools were closed.
Police spokesman Lt. Robert Harrison said a house at 39 High St. was evacuated after water rose several feet and electricity had to be shut down to the building.
Other roads closed included High Street, Brook Street and Hunters Mountain Road. Harrison said when police responded to a call of flooding on Rubber Avenue near the intersection with Neuman, shortly after 1 a.m., there was three feet of water over the road. The brook had overflowed, also washing away an upper exit to a plaza housing Webster Bank. Borough road crews reopened the road in time for evening rush hour.
In Waterbury, firefighters recommended that residents of six apartment complexes along Sharon Road and Woodtick Road evacuate around 6 a.m. when the Mad River overflowed its banks and flooded garages and parking lots, Acting Fire Chief David Martin said.
Martin said no mandatory evacuations were needed because the river crested around the same time.
Water marks about a foot up the wall marked several parking garages at Preston Landings Apartments on Monday afternoon. Sharon Road was opened by the afternoon.
Firefighters used a boat to rescue people in an area near lower Boyden Street, Martin said.
Martin said a dozen sump pumps the department owns were given out by around 9 a.m. The department had responded to 100 calls by shortly after 2 p.m., including flooded basements and an unusually high number of medical calls.
In Wolcott, several roads flooded when water rose on brooks and lakes, Mayor Thomas G. Dunn said. Parts of Town Line Road, Spindle Hill Road, Woodtick Road, Nutmeg Valley Road, Lindsey Brook, Pleasant Street and Frisbee Circle were under water beginning early Monday.
Dunn said Town Line Road remained closed with part of it still under water by 2 p.m. on Monday.
He said a car was stuck in floodwaters on Pleasant Street shortly before 6 a.m. The car was removed and the road reopened.
No roads remained closed by late Monday.
In Cheshire, sections of four roads near the Quinnipiac River were closed Monday. Parts of Blacks Road, East Johnson Avenue, Cheshire Street and Riverside Drive remained closed after water washed over them. East Johnson Avenue and Riverside Drive remained closed by 5 p.m. Two drivers who ignored flood warnings on Riverside Drive became stuck, and their cars had to be towed.
Fire Chief Jack Casner said the Quinnipiac River was expected to crest around 2 p.m. at about 12 feet. The roads were reopened by then.
Casner said the department responded to between 40 and 50 calls of flooded basements and yards by early afternoon, but no evacuations were reported.
In Beacon Falls, an 8-foot-high retaining wall at Beacon Mill Village at 2 North Main St. gave way early Monday, unleashing a mud slide that damaged 10 cars.
Beacon Hose Company spokesman Jeremy Rodorigo said the call came in at 5 a.m., and by the time firefighters arrived there were cars pushed into each other and others pushed into the middle of the parking lot.
Rodorigo said some flooding was reported in the Blackberry Hill area and along Route 42.
In Watertown, volunteer firefighters are in for some much deserved rest.
Town Manager Charles Frigon said emergency crews worked through the night responding to reports of flooding at residential homes. Frigon said the town experienced significant flooding, but major roadways fared well.
The largest impact, he said, was in requests for assistance from residents. Frigon said the fire department responded to 91 calls by Monday evening.
In New Milford the surging water of the Housatonic River flooded roads, yards and basements. A mud slide on Grove Street caused by water rushing down a hillside toward the river closed the road for about 12 hours as a town crew used pay loaders and heavy machinery to clear the mud.
Closer to the river on Housatonic Avenue, Ed Baylock said he began preparing his home for the incoming water last week. As a veteran of many past floods, Baylock said he has seen the Housatonic flood at the same spot for the past 30 years. By stacking everything high on shelves above his basement floor and raising his boiler two feet off the ground he said he was spared when the water began flowing inside.
"We've had worse," he said.
A portion of Route 7 was closed for about three-quarters of a mile as was Veterans Memorial Bridge due to flooding.
In New Milford the surging water of the Housatonic River flooded roads, yards and basements. A mud slide on Grove Street caused by water rushing down a hillside toward the river closed the road for about 12 hours as a town crew used pay loaders and heavy machinery to clear the mud.
Closer to the river on Housatonic Avenue, Ed Baylock said he began preparing his home for the incoming water last week. As a veteran of many past floods, Baylock said he has seen the Housatonic flood at the same spot for the past 30 years. By stacking everything high on shelves above his basement floor and raising his boiler two feet off the ground he said he was spared when the water began flowing inside.
"We've had worse," he said.
A portion of Route 7 was closed for about three-quarters of a mile as was Veterans Memorial Bridge due to flooding.
The rain was still falling hard across the Northwest Corner early Monday as firefighters began to receive the first of what would be an overwhelming number of calls for help brought by the rising waters.
By the end of the day, 3.75 inches of rainfall had been measured at Great Mountain Forest within a 24-hour period. Much of it flowed over frozen ground and into basements.
In Salisbury, homeowner Chip Carleton said he'd never seen anything like it in 25 years -- water coming up through the basement drain in his farmhouse.
Volunteer fire departments, mostly in Sharon, Salisbury, Canaan, Norfolk, Falls Village, Bantam, and Litchfield, were called to 150 flooded basements to pump out water. In Torrington, fire officials said they had performed about 165 pump-outs.
Most of the emergency calls involved water that had reached furnaces and hot water heaters and doused pilot lights. Kent firefighters, who had their hands full dealing with ice jams along Route 7, were called to just one home.
In the midst of answering a dozen calls for wet basements, Litchfield firefighters responded to Pitch Road during the afternoon after a car went off the dirt road as part of the roadway collapsed.
The Housatonic River burst its banks early Monday, pushing ice and snow over Route 7 south of the town center in Kent, and causing the state Department of Transportation to close the road the entire day.
The Kent Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched just after midnight to help with traffic control, and at 3 a.m. began to evacuate families from homes along part of the state highway.
First Selectman Bruce K. Adams said Emergency Management Director Tony Amon contacted him Sunday night with reports of flooding, and Adams opened Town Hall. Four cots were set up for people to sleep.
Three town roads -- Schaghticoke Road, which runs along the western edge of the river, Camps Flat Road and Kent Hollow Road -- were closed.
For the first time, Amon used the Everbridge Alert System, which sent out 1,500 notifications to residents.
"Some people did get multiple calls," he said. He said there were a few complaints, but he also got some calls of praise as well.
The Winsted Fire Department estimated it responded to at least 30 calls for flooded basements from Sunday night to early Monday afternoon.
Volunteer firefighters had to return to one house on Baker Street on Monday morning after pumping it out Sunday night because the water kept pouring in, Assistant Fire Chief David Sartirana said.
Sartirana said some homes had to two to three feet of water in the basement. At 3 p.m., he finished pumping out a basement on Oak Street that he said had 15 to 18 inches of water in it. He said it took him an hour to do the job using a gas-powered pump.
One resident of that house, Peter Dimitrakopoulos, said his family called at 12:30 p.m. Monday after his uncle said there was too much water to empty out using just a sump pump.
Dimitrakopoulos said the family has lived in the single-family home for at least 15 years and has never had a flooding problem.
"They did a great job," he said of the fire department.
Sartirana said fortunately many homeowners were able to find ways to pump out their own basements. There were so many calls, volunteers couldn't get to all of them quickly. Firefighters felt they finally had caught up at 3 p.m.
"You can have 20 pumps, but if you only got five guys, you can only do so much," he said.
Winchester Grange No. 74 canceled its Tuesday night potluck supper and meeting because of flooding in the lower level of the hall in Winchester Center.
Apparently firefighters from the Winchester Volunteer Fire Department found the lower level full of water, Grange spokesman Terri Fassio said.
Grange President Todd Gelineau and Secretary Susan Addison went to the hall at 3:30 a.m. to move furniture so it wouldn't get damaged. They were working to get the rugs dried and cleaned late Monday afternoon.
The Grange's next meeting is scheduled for March 22. |
