Roads closed, bridges washed away and hundreds of residents were forced to abandon their homes to find safer ground once again as a spring nor’easter ravaged the state.

And in Allenstown, in a low-lying neighborhood that’s been perpetually abused by flooding, five people were arrested by press time for disorderly conduct.

For many people in southern New Hampshire, the recent floods – which peaked on Monday, April 16 and Tuesday, April 17 – were eerily similar to last May’s Mother’s Day floods.

“It’s an instant replay of last year,” said Auburn fire Lt. Linda Wilking.

Wildlife biologist Eric Orff, who lives on the banks of the Suncook River in Epsom, said, “It’s another 100- year flood. It’s probably the fourth 100-year flood we’ve had in a year-and-a-half.”

Just like last year, one of the hardest-hit communities in the state was Allenstown, where more than 60 homes, mainly in low-lying areas near the Suncook, were subjected to mandatory evacuations. People in 40 other apartments and homes also heeded a voluntary evacuation.

Several residents in the Riverside Park Drive area, which was largely submerged by the Suncook River, defied orders to evacuate, police said.

First arrested was Evelyn Bernard, who police said refused to abandon her home.

“She was asked to leave numerous times and refused,” said Police Chief Shaun Mulholland.

Around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 17, police arrested Arthur Gelinas and David Leach, who, with a dog, were surrounded in their car by rushing floodwaters.

Safety officials spent several hours rescuing the pair and the pup, and crews from Hooksett and Pembroke were called in after the motor on Allenstown’s water rescue boat burned out while fighting the current, said Town Administrator Kelley Collins.

Edward Faye was arrested after he was rescued from his family’s home, which he got to on Tuesday afternoon launching a canoe from upriver, said Collins.

The canoe was lost in the currents, and a rescue boat was again summoned.

As of press time, Noreen Lockwood, who police contend drove around an Army National Guard barrier in the Riverside Park Drive area, represented the last flood-related arrest.

All five of those arrested will go to Hooksett District Court, Mulholland said.

Collins said many people had tried to pass through barricaded roadways including Mount Delight Road, Jasper Drive and Riverside Park Drive.

Town officials condemned a home on Hillside Drive after a 12-foot section of a tree cut through the home, Collins said.

In Hooksett, a town-wide emergency was declared on Monday, and 20 Army National Guard troops assisted by keeping traffic out of flooded areas.

“We had, at one time, 13 roads closed,” said Murray.

“That’s 26 barriers.”

Two roadways, including Pleasant Street, where surging waters from a brook washed out a section of a bridge, were still closed at press time.

“There’s some major damage down there,” Murray said. “That’s going to be closed for a while.”

Hooksett Highway Department head Dale Hemeon summed up the damage to the town’s roadways.

“A lot of the roads we had problems with last year are some of the same roads we’re having problems with now,” he said.

The Route 3 RK Plaza, anchored by a 94,500-squarefoot Kmart store, was one of the first areas to flood in town.

The plaza’s owners, RK Associates of Dedham, Massachusetts, are putting up the money to temporarily fix a Benton Road drainage problem that has perpetually caused flooding to the Route 3 commercial plaza for decades. Construction was underway at press time.

Auburn’s Wilking said virtually all the roads that closed last year were submerged by floodwaters again this year. Adding to the trouble is that 566 homes lost power on the first day of the flooding.

Hooksett Road, Raymond Road, Manchester Road and Spofford Road all closed for a time, she said. And bridges on Tower Hill Road and Depot Road that were either shored up or rebuilt after last year’s flooding were again washed away by powerful floodwaters, said Wilking.

“Basically all of our low-lying areas are underwater,” Wilking said during the worst of the deluge.

Candia Fire Chief Rudy Cartier said the town was hit hard by the floods after faring well compared to surrounding towns last year.

“In Candia, it was absolutely worse than last year,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot more damage.” Sporadic losses of power and phone services only augmented problems caused by closed roadways and bridges.

A large tree fell on a power line, knocking out power to residents in spots near North Road.

A Raymond switching station, which provides phone service to hundreds of Candia, was at one point submerged in four feet of water, Cartier said.

“There’s still little to no phone service in parts of Candia, even right now,” Cartier said late Tuesday morning.

For some safety officials, late-season snow and pounding rain are making for a long spring season.

“The only thing I like about ice and snow is that I can eventually put my boat in it,” said Murray.