Seymour Fire Chief Chris Edwards addresses the Seymour Board of Selectpersons.
SEYMOUR — At a Board of Selectpersons meeting on Tuesday, Seymour Fire Chief Chris Edwards, who also serves as the town’s emergency management director, gave an update of what’s been happening since a freak flash flood on Sunday (Aug. 18) caused extensive damage along the Little River.
Edwards said:
*Route 67 in Seymour is open in both directions
*Klarides Village, a shopping center on Route 67, is mostly closed. Fourteen of the businesses suffered major damage, many flooded with four to five feet of water from the Little River that runs behind the plaza. Three businesses are open, including Elite Fitness and the Karaku sushi restaurant. The UPS Store is only open to people with mailboxes there.
*Edwards handed out forms to the affected businesses in Klarides Village. Those forms will be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency with the hope Seymour and Connecticut can get disaster aid.
*A minor breach to the side wall of a privately-owned dam (known as Wire Mill Dam No. 2) behind Allen’s Plumbing Supply was also discovered Monday (Aug. 19) after an inspection by DEEP, engineers and town officials. First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said fillable foam, which turns into concrete, has been applied to temporarily shore up the break until it can be properly repaired.
*River Street, which runs alongside the Naugatuck River and the Wire Mill Dam, remains closed indefinitely due to significant damage.
*The state Department of Transportation is working to clear debris from Hoadley’s Pond, near the area of the Route 67 bridge and Woodside Avenue.
*Sidewalks on Old Drive near Rimmon Street were washed away, and the town’s public works department has replaced sections where large voids were, but a full repair is still needed.
Edwards said the fire department made multiple rescues of people trapped in their cars, as well as someone from the Housatonic River on Route 34, in addition to providing mutual aid to Oxford, where two people were killed by flood waters. The elected officials at Tuesday’s meeting had a moment of silence for the victims.
“The fire department within a 24-hour period handled 60 calls for service,” Edwards said. “All in all we’re never prepared for something like this, it’s an act of nature. This was not forecasted; it was supposed to be a one to two-inch rainstorm.”
State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria was at Tuesday’s meeting. Her family owns Klarides Village. She said the family will be providing Dumpsters starting Wednesday (Aug. 21) to all the business owners, at no charge, to help in clean-up efforts inside their businesses. She also said Chip’s restaurant in Orange will be providing all the business owners and workers with free food. Klarides-Ditria said she anticipates the FEMA declaration to come in the next couple of days, so business owners can get some financial help in their recovery efforts.
“My family’s plaza has been devastated by this flooding, but we will rebuild,” she said.
First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said she’ll be going up in a helicopter Wednesday to assess all of Seymour’s damage, and will continue to work with the affected business owners and any residents who incurred flood damage. She also said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro reached out and asked what the town needs.
“We are a small town with a big heart, and when we’re in trouble, we’re all in trouble,” Drugonis said. “Everybody worked together. The residents have reached out, asking what they can do for the owners of the businesses and anyone else who needs help.”
