NAUGATUCK — Residents and officials continued to clean up Thursday from the previous day's intense storm with little hope of aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
After consulting with the office of U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, Mayor Robert A. Mezzo said the damage caused by Wednesday's flooding would not likely qualify for federal assistance. The cost of damage caused by the storm would have to exceed county or state thresholds, which they will probably not reach, Mezzo said.
Mezzo said the borough would fund cleanup and repairs as it has during other emergencies. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in snow removal costs were paid for last year from surpluses in other accounts.
Fire Chief Ken Hanks and Public Works Director James Stewart said they could not yet begin to estimate the repair and cleanup costs. Flooding caused more damage to roads Wednesday than other recent storms, but crews will not work as much overtime to pave roads as they do to plow snow, officials noted.
Some state employees are helping assess damage in the borough, and Waterbury loaned dump trucks and sweepers to help clear roads that had been covered in mud. All blocked roads were expected to be open by the end of Thursday.
Mezzo warned residents to beware of scams involving contractors offering storm-related repairs. Homeowners should ask to see state licenses and proof of adequate insurance and call the Department of Consumer Protection at 1-800-842-2649 with questions about any contractor, Mezzo said.
Homeowners in the Cherry Street Extension area were still assessing their damage, which they said their insurance companies would not cover. Some said they had looked into buying flood insurance but could not because they do not live in a designated flood zone.
Jim Grant, 59, of 366 Cherry St. Extension, had a fan running on high to dry out his furnace, freezer, washer and dryer, which were inundated Wednesday under 18 inches of water.
Grant, who has lived in the same house for 22 years, is one of a group of residents near the corner of Cherry Street Extension and Charles Street who are consistently flooded when water runs downhill from Andrew Mountain and Hunters Mountain. They thought they had been given a reprieve two years ago when borough crews rebuilt the riprap system in a nearby creek and installed a larger drain pipe, but were frustrated this week to find themselves flooded again.
"They're never going to fix it," Grant said. "I'm upset because this problem shouldn't keep going on."
A comprehensive fix was estimated two years ago to cost nearly $3 million, which the borough has not been able to pay for. Mezzo said almost no drainage system could protect against the 6 inches of rain that fell Wednesday, mostly in a three-hour period.
"I don't know any municipal collection system that is able to handle that," Mezzo said.
The public works department is working to repair the road where it washed out at Scott Street and Andrew Avenue, and might need to fix the drainage system underneath where three 18-inch pipes feed into a 36-inch pipe, Stewart said. The unequal capacity might have caused flooding near that intersection, Stewart said.
Some residents who have never had flooding problems got a taste of them Wednesday. Pat Tomanik, 59, of 195 Andrew Ave., watched her retaining wall wash away as water cascaded down Andrew Mountain into her yard on the corner of Melbourne Street. Since she moved in 19 years ago, she said, she has never been flooded.
"It was just too much to handle," Tomanik said. "It was like being in a river."
Tomanik said she might refinance her house or get a loan to pay for repairs, which she estimated would cost at least $10,000.
Water coming down from Terrace Avenue broke through a ground floor window at Hillside Intermediate School, flooding the floor. A path leading from the school to the sidewalk farther down Hillside Avenue also washed away.
St. Francis-St. Hedwig School also flooded, covering the cafeteria in mud.
Residents displaced from apartment buildings moved back in Thursday, and the Red Cross was no longer needed to help shelter them at the Senior Center, according to Director Harvey Frydman.
The Recycling Center at 246 Rubber Ave. will open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Saturday to accept storm-related debris free of charge. Residents must show identification. To report road damage or ask for basement pumping, call the fire department.
at 203-720-7084.
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