Brattleboro focuses on rebuilding after devastation
As published on page one of the August 30, 2011 edition of the Keene Sentinel, and online.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. -- A trail of muddy footprints led up the stairs of the town's municipal center Monday afternoon, as residents and business owners from flood-ravaged Brattleboro neighborhoods gathered hoping to learn when, and how, they will be able to rebuild their lives.
Flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene tore up roads and moved homes off their foundations in West Brattleboro, and ruined store inventories as it left much of downtown covered in a layer of mud.
Officials and residents spent Monday in a flurry of cleaning and damage assessments, in a disaster that officials indicated the town will not quickly bounce back from on its own.
Town Manager Barbara Sondag warned the assembled residents the extent of the damage means rebuilding is going to take time, and sources of outside help are spread thin. Reports of Irene-related destruction are coming in from across Vermont.
"It's a large section of town and it's a large section of the state and it's a large section of the country. So I will prepare you now -- be ready to hurry up and wait," she said.
Federal disaster relief should be available, she said, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not yet issued instructions for how people who need help can get it.
Engineers from the city of Keene were in Brattleboro Monday, helping local officials systematically review the condition of each bridge in town.
"You don't realize how many bridges you have until you think they might have been compromised," Sondag said.
The bridges between Brattleboro and New Hampshire are open, but most of the bridges in the town will require repairs, even those that are open to traffic.
Route 9 north of Cook Road has been washed away.
"There are portions of (Route 9) that look fine," Sondag said. "You see the asphalt, but if you look from the other side there's no ground under it."
Deputy Fire Chief Peter Lynch reviewed building assessment work that has been done so far, listing addresses that were not yet safe for occupancy. Dozens of people remain displaced.
Downtown, Flat Street was still closed Monday, but workers had removed a great deal of mud, and Sondag estimated the road could be open again by mid-week.
Some businesses along the road will take longer to recover.
The basement of Adivasi, a store that sells imported goods from India, was filled to the ceiling with water, and a 3-inch layer of mud covered the first floor, according to owner Elissa Bhanti. The 16-year-old business had no flood insurance.
"The community outpouring has been very nice," Bhanti said. "I was feeling very positive until I realized our insurance isn't going to cover anything."
Inside the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro, half-a-dozen tired-looking young people were resting Monday evening, after a long day of shoveling mud from the 4,000-square-foot facility.
"For so many of our members, this is a home away from home," said Ricky Davidson, the club's director. "They want to get it cleaned up so they can get their home back."
Other organizations are relieved to have come out relatively unscathed.
The New England Youth Theatre should be able to start classes on schedule, according to Bari Shamais, board chairwoman. A recent renovation of the building included flood gates, which were able to keep out most -- but not all -- of the water.
"We were probably the most fortunate on that street," Shamais said.
Electricity should be restored to the Brattleboro Food Co-op by this morning, Lynch said.
Sondag praised the entire community -- from her colleagues in town government to local bus drivers, the Red Cross and the Vermont National Guard -- for their preparation for, and reaction to, Irene.
And she told residents they would see town employees working to assist other Vermont communities with their recovery efforts, because -- despite all of the damage -- Brattleboro was not the hardest hit.
"We are one of the fortunate ones," she said. "We truly were blessed."
tagged with: Hurricane Irene, Vermont
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