Waters are slowly receding from New Hampshire communities flooded by the rains this past week.
Governor Lynch has been touring towns in Southern New Hampshire to get a sense of how extensive the damage is.
In parts of Salem, residential and commercial neighborhoods have been soaking in several feet of water for days.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Kerry Grens toured some of the worst parts of the town and filed this report.
Manchester National Guardsmen patrol Haigh Street for residents who need a lift out of the flooded area.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
[sounds water splashing]
In his bright yellow galoshes, Fred Russo wades down Haigh Avenue in Salem.
It’s the first time all week he’s been able to leave his house on foot.
Russo: I’ve been using a canoe to get back and forth, so it’s been an interesting week.
Russo’s wife and children stayed with a relative, but they might return this day as water levels have gone down a bit.
Russo: I got most of the water out of the basement at this point, but it’s still seeping in from the back. My pool in the backyard was completely under water.
Where Russo’s standing, the street rises up out of a pond that was once a residential neighborhood.
Now, water spilled over from the Spicket River laps up to driveway doors and front steps.
Annmarie Durgin has not been to her house in days.
A Haigh Street resident sits in his garage behind a sandbag barracade.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
Durgin: The whole downstairs was all under water. And my heater and everything, I don’t know if my boilers are going to work. I don’t have any heat or hot water right now.
Durgin’s son has been staying there, shuttling in and out of the neighborhood by canoe.
Based on his pictures Durgin says her first floor became a pool—six feet deep.
She says it’s hard to estimate just how bad the damage is.
Durgin: We won’t know until an assessor comes in, which we have to wait till the water goes down before somebody comes down the street.
And, Durgin adds, there is still about three or four feet of water in her living room.
[car doors slamming, walkie talkie: what’s your location?]
Deputy Fire Chief Paul Parisi drives past flooded areas of Salem on a tour of the town’s damage.
Manchester National Guard help Haigh Street resident Diane Cormier up on to the humvee, to be taken to dry ground. Diane and her son are heading up to Merrimack to stay with her sister.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
Parisi: This road was closed up until 08:00 hours this morning. This area right here where you see the shoulder was washed out on the south side here and they’ve put some riprap in.
Parisi says hundreds of Salem homes have been damaged and about twenty roads remain closed.
Since Monday, a dozen National Guard troops have been fording newly formed water ways to transport residents to and from their homes.
Parisi turns onto Route 28.
It normally serves as a main commercial artery straight through the city—but it’s now a lake.
Parisi: I think I came through here on Monday night and the water level was at about three feet. By Tuesday morning the water level in the middle here was in the five foot range.
Route 28 is lined with businesses.
The parking lot to Hooters is completely submerged, and many other businesses are inaccessible.
Flooded out, the floor had to be ripped up at the Hooters restaurant on RTE28.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
Several other restaurants, auto repair shops, and retail stores are all closed.
Bob Anderson runs Anderson’s Auto, a garage and gas station, which sits on the banks of the lake that used to be Route 28.
His business has been shut since Friday night.
Anderson: There’s no business. With the water up to there and they’re not letting anybody in. Plus they just got electricity in the mall yesterday, so we don’t have any business at all.
Moonlight Adult Store shares a parking lot with Anderson’s Auto.
No one can drive in the lot, but manager Eric Peone keeps the open sign lit in the shop’s window.
Peone: The open sign’s in case we get any foot traffic. In case people are walking by and they go: oh! I got to get something!
Grens: Have you had any?
Peone: One, two yesterday. We’re in the hole a lot of money now.
Six inch perch swim in the receeding water on RTE28 in Salem Thursday evening.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)
The water on Route 28 is slowly creeping back to the Spicket River, but businesses might continue to face significant challenges.
Fire Chief Parisi says the street could be closed long term because of road damage.
He estimates the total financial impact from the flood to be in the millions.
Salem is just one of many towns Governor Lynch has visited to gauge how bad the rains’ damage has been.
Governor: It varies by community. Some communities are relatively unscathed and other communities have been hit particularly hard. We have communities like Rochester, Hooskett, and Goffstown, have really been hit hard as a result of the floods and the heavy rains. And I think Salem is in that same category.
Federal Emergency Management staff is expected in New Hampshire throughout the coming week to conduct their own observations of the damage.
FEMA’s assessment will determine whether residents will be eligible to receive federal aid.
Governor Lynch says he is sure New Hampshire has met the minimum damage thresholds to qualify.
SOQ
