Shelton Crews Use Boats To Rescue Maples Residents

Shelton emergency crews used flat-bottom rescue boats to pluck four elderly residents out of their homes while the Housatonic River flooded the Maples section of Shelton Thursday.

The city issued a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying Housatonic neighborhood at about 3 p.m., when the water levels of the Housatonic had reached about 20.53 feet. By 5:30 p.m. the levels had receded to 19.07 feet.

The neighborhood starts flooding at about 11.5 feet. 

Anything over 20 feet is considered a major flood stage. 

At 1:30 p.m., the water in the street was more than 3 feet deep, and most residents had self evacuated, according to Assistant Fire Chief Paul Wilson. 

Four people had to be transported by boat,” Wilson said. 
 

Those rescued were senior citizens who couldn’t walk the river without assistance, according to Wilson.

A firefighter lifted an elderly woman in his arms and carried her from the rescue boat to a waiting ambulance.

One person who was removed from her home was transported to Griffin Hospital because she needed basic medical care, Wilson said.

Here is a WTNH report on the Maples:

Here’s a

Article continues after photo gallery. 


 
The city was concerned that more water could come down from the Stevenson Dam in Oxford and cause even more flooding. 

If we get another three feet of water here it will be catastrophic,” the chief said.
 
By 5:30 p.m., a team of about 25 firefighters and emergency medical services personnel were making one final sweep of the street, trying to get as many people out as possible. They had been evacuating the homes on the road since 1:30 p.m.

Frustrations
 
Residents of the road said they are disgusted with the amount of flooding they have suffered this year.
 
One resident, Rich Machnicz, said he has lived on the river since 1994 and has never seen a flood this late in the year. They usually expect them in the spring, after the winter thaw and the ice melt swells the river.
 
When do you get floods in September?” Machnicz said.
 

Some neighbors wanted to stay but felt they had no choice but to leave. For one thing, there was no electricity. Power was cut in the afternoon to the neighborhood, said resident Dan Schwartzman.
 

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