Dozens Turn Out In Seymour For Klarides Village Cleanup

SEYMOUR – Michelle Han was in California when she heard that her parents’ business, Seymour Nails & Spa, had been decimated by surging floodwaters on Aug. 18. The rain delayed her flight back that evening – then delayed it again – before she was able to return to Connecticut the next night.

On Wednesday morning (Aug. 21), Han and dozens of other volunteers showed up to help clean wreckage throughout the Klarides Village plaza at 277 Bank St. The Sunday floods, which killed two women in Oxford and left swathes of Seymour, Oxford, Monroe, and Southbury underwater, hit Klarides Village hard and devastated the businesses within.

Beacon Falls resident Doug Bousquet, who owns Doug & Nick Construction, was shoveling mud from sidewalks in front of Route 67 Diner, which was under five feet of water during the freak flash flood. Bousquet has been here since Monday, helping out diner owner and personal friend Mike Abe.

(The video below is from The Yankee Quilter and gives a sense of the water’s power. Story continues after the video)

“It was absolutely devastating, but I’ve been here helping Mike and the family every day to coordinate clean-up efforts,” Bousquet said.

Bousquet took one trip after another into the diner, wheeling out busted up tables, chairs, and debris and loading it onto a waiting payloader.

Emma Lovisolo, 15, of Seymour, lives close by the plaza and wanted to help. She and her mom slipped on white protective suits and gloves and got to work emptying debris from inside the diner and Hallmark store next door. 

“My mom woke me up this morning and said, ​‘let’s go,’” Emma said. ​“This is my childhood place and I kind of grew up coming here to the diner. I love their food, and the diner is small and feels connected with everybody.”

Mary Deming, founder of Seymour Pink, and her husband Bruce, were up to their knees in mud, helping businesses clear out the debris.

“We believe in community and this community is amazing,” Mary Deming said. ​“These people are so supportive of us and Seymour Pink. They do for us, so we do for them. It’s family.”

Route 67 Diner owner Mike Abe was filled with more hope Wednesday (Aug. 21) than when he first walked into his business Monday (Aug. 19) morning and saw the devastation.

“Today I have huge hope,” Abe said. ​“We’re going to come back and very strong. ​“The landlords, the volunteers and the town are helping us and I can’t thank them enough. Today seems a lot brighter.”

The cleanup work began on Tuesday, but Wednesday saw larger, more coordinated efforts. Ocean State Job Lot provided personal protective equipment (PPE) to volunteers, who hauled trash away from stores to dumpsters that had been brought in by the Klarides family, members of which own the plaza. The fire and police departments each maintained a presence throughout the plaza, and food was brought in to feed volunteers.

Former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, one of the plaza’s owners, was on scene. She said an industrial cleaner will be brought in at no cost to the business owners once the buildings are empty.

“It’s very heartwarming to see a community that our family has been so involved with for over 100 years feel so strongly that they want to give back,” Klarides said.

Seymour Police Officer John Oczkowsi was helping Seymour Fire Chief Chris Edwards coordinate clean-up efforts.

“It’s like one big job site here,” Oczkowski said. ​“We’re moving dumpsters in and out, seeing what the businesses need and coordinating the efforts.”

Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis, who was scheduled to take a helicopter ride Wednesday afternoon to survey the town’s damage from above, put out the initial call for volunteers on the town’s Facebook page.

“It is so moving to see the amount of residents that have come in that want to help,” she said. ​“Everybody here is family and they’re all helping each other.”

Without Insurance, Business Owners Seek Disaster Declaration

Compounding Sunday’s devastation is the fact that businesses in the plaza don’t have flood insurance, as the plaza doesn’t lie within a flood zone. Kundan Patel, who has owned Woodland Wine & Liquor for about 20 years, said her insurance company had told her she wouldn’t need it.

Without insurance payouts, businesses are relying on these volunteer efforts to recover – along with, possibly, state and federal aid.

On Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency for areas affected by the floods. Drugonis said the town is working with the state to get a federal disaster declaration – which would unlock federal funds for affected homeowners and business owners.

“Chris Edwards, our emergency management director, has already started getting all our residents and our businesses the proper paperwork they need, so we can file for FEMA,” Drugonis said.

Lamont’s office announced on Wednesday afternoon that a federal emergency declaration – not a federal disaster yet, which would unlock funding to support damaged homes and businesses and requires a separate declaration – was approved for New Haven, Fairfield and Litchfield counties.

Patel said that federal aid will determine whether she is able to reopen her store in the future.

Abe said the diner is a total loss, and he is ​“praying to God” that FEMA comes through with financial assistance so he can rebuild.

Edwards told The Valley Indy that seeing the volunteers turn out made his heart happy.

“The worst disasters bring out the best in people,” Edwards said.

Calls for volunteers have been posted to the Office of the First Selectwoman Facebook page. The Valley Indy also has a list of links for GoFundMes for affected families and businesses on the homepage.