Epsom News : flood

Larsen supports flood study

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:56:00 GMT

Senate President Sylvia Larsen, D-Concord, sent a letter supporting a comprehensive federal study of the Suncook River floodplain due to problems that developed after the river changed course last year.

The change in the river’s course in Epsom, triggered by the May 2006 flood, has dramatically increased the amount of sediment flowing downstream into Pembroke and Allenstown. According to a preliminary assessment by a hydrogeologist, “(t)he large volume of sediment introduced downstream is expected to decrease channel depth and increase the frequency of overbank flooding,” wrote Chad Wittkop, of the New Hampshire Geological Survey, in June of last year.

Larsen’s constituent Tom Baumeister, who lives about four miles downstream from where the river changed course, said that’s exactly what happened -- the erosion and silt deposits made this year’s floods worse, once again driving him from his home.

Last year, Epsom officials applied for and received a federal grant to study whether to try to restore the river to its old course or accept the new channel. This latest study would go further by looking at the impact on the entire floodplain. Larsen wrote today to urge that the state Department of Environmental Services application be funded.

In her letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Larsen asked that U.S. Geological Survey grant money be approved and sufficient to allow a comprehensive study of the Suncook River floodplain.

“The designation of such funding is imperative to the successful efforts of New Hampshire DES and the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct an appropriately expansive study of that riparian region, including an analysis of sediment transport and the development of flood recovery mapping,” she wrote.

“It is my hope that a complete and all-encompassing study will help promote solutions that will prevent further loss of property and promote security for all the residents living along the Suncook River,” Larsen said.

Park tenants have difficult time recovering

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:26:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

The ravages of flooding don’t necessarily end when the flooding recedes, as several pockets of area residents can now testify.

For people in Epsom’s Kingstowne Mobile Home Park – parts of which were overtaken by the Suncook River during the height of mid-April’s 100-year flood event – the waters wreaked financial damage that may exceed the value of their homes.

One resident simply packed up what she could and abandoned her white trailer home sitting just yards away from the Suncook.

Another Kingstowne Park resident, said Epsom Selectman John Klose, “was hit real hard. He just started crying and walking away from here.”

Tom Hubbard described the water inside his home, before he was forced to evacuate along with his neighbors, as “almost up to my crotch.”

“Even my couch moved. I had furniture floating all over the place,” Hubbard said.

Hubbard’s been staying at a Concord Salvation Army shelter since the floods, and said he doesn’t know where to turn since his home is growing mold and may soon be condemned. He wasn’t able to get flood insurance for his trailer and his belongings have all been soaked.

“I’m throwing out all my crap – it’s no good,” he said.

Epsom’s health officer Cec Curran recently told selectmen though several homes in the neighborhood certainly qualify for condemnation, he’s not ready to make that move until the struggling families there can make some sort of living arrangements.

A crew of Epsom town officials and volunteers – including Klose, Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton and welfare officer Lisa Cote – recently went to the neighborhood to help residents fill out local and county relief forms.

The park’s residents – many of whom are elderly, have little to no income and some of whom have mental disabilities – would miss out on the opportunities for relief if the town didn’t go to them, Klose said.

“Some of these people can’t read,” Klose said. “People get a little embarrassed about that. You’ve got to dig a little deeper.”

Town volunteers also brought food from the town’s food pantry to struggling residents, since the Red Cross recently had to stop providing relief there. Klose said despite the town’s efforts, residents in the neighborhood are feeling more and more neglected by state and federal government agencies as time passes.

“A lot of these people, they’ve got nothing,” he said. “They’re angry.”

Kingstowne resident Steve Allen has been living with his daughter and three dogs on their mobile home’s front porch since the floods.

Allen, who’s lived in the home for three years, said he’s not sure if he’ll even try to salvage the trailer, which he bought for $28,000.

“I can’t see the point of trying to rehab something that may be in the same danger next year,” he said. “The trailer itself I’m not sure is worth it.”

Allen’s once green lawn leading to the Suncook now resembles a sandy beach. But the light colored sand throughout the area is deceiving, said Klose. It’s mixed with contaminants and septic waste that’s spilled over in people’s yards.

Said Allen, “When this sand and silt gets wet, it turns into this horrendous-smelling muck.”

Gov. John Lynch recently secured a statewide disaster declaration from the federal government, and is urging residents to register for relief with FEMA – even if they’ve registered with other groups – online at www.fema.gov or by phone at (800) 621-3362.

Desperation at flooded mobile homes

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:36:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Residents in a low-lying Epsom neighborhood are reeling after the second major flood in 18 months destroyed their mobile homes, toppled their fuel tanks and left septic systems floating in their yards, local safety and health officials said.

Kingstowne Mobile Home Park, off Route 28 south of Webster Park, was ravaged by the recent floods, and many residents there are struggling to cope with the disaster, said Epsom’s health officer, Cec Curran.

“I’ve encountered quite a lot of people that left me the lingering impression that they won’t know what to do,” said Curran, who recently urged selectmen to meet with residents at the park to encourage them to fill out applications for federal relief money, if it becomes available.

“They need more than a hot shower and a hot meal. They’re going to need some serious assistance,” he said.

During the recent floods, the Epsom Fire Department building off Route 4 acted both as the emergency command center and a temporary shelter for people forced to evacuate their homes. About two dozen displaced people passed through the shelter, said Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton.

But Curran said many people at Kingstowne now have no place to turn, even though they may be living in a breeding ground for mold and other health hazards.

He said he’s not willing to start condemning homes there until residents can make other living arrangements.

“These people have nowhere to go,” Curran said. “I know at this moment there are at least five families who are putting themselves in harm’s way by staying there.”

Police Chief Wayne Preve also told selectmen the situation at Kingstowne is dire.

“These people are devastated. This is twice in a row,” he said. “You go down there and you can smell septic. Something needs to be done.”

Yeaton said residents were forced to evacuate the mobile home park, which sits on the banks of the Suncook River, at 10 p.m., after water levels jumped 2 feet there in about 15 or 20 minutes.

Rescue workers evacuated 18 people in the park by boat and four-wheel-drive vehicles at night, he said, after about a dozen residents had already been removed from the neighborhood during daylight.

One local fireman fell thigh-deep into a septic tank, Yeaton said.

Also in the neighborhood, a 250-gallon oil tank was washed away into the Suncook, and about a dozen home propane tanks were toppled over by floodwater, Yeaton said.

Epsom rescue workers immediately summoned DES officials and other local hazardous materials experts to the area, and crews used absorbent pads to try and mitigate some of the contamination.

Yeaton said he’s not sure how much oil was in the large tank, but said the DES officials repeatedly referred to the spill damage as “minimal.”

Yeaton said anger and despair in the mobile home park were palpable, as residents questioned rescue workers why the Suncook River’s change of course over last year’s flooding had yet to be studied.

He said many of the people in the neighborhood are elderly and on a fixed income, and now have little hope.

“These folks aren’t getting out to get another job,” he said.

Town roads
Road agent Gordon Ellis estimated that the recent floods wreaked about $1.4 million worth of damage to the town’s roads. By comparison, road damage to the town after last May’s floods was between about $100,000 and $200,000, he said.

“There were very few roads in town that weren’t damaged,” Ellis said.

At least 17 of the town’s roads were shut down at some point during the recent floods.