Moretown - A community flooded in spirit

I suppose that unless you have seen the damage that a sudden and unexpected flood can cause to a community, to farms, to homes to roads and bridges, you really cannot be prepared for the shock.  As I look over the bank of the river behind the property of the homeowner we were helping, you can see the gorge formed by the cliffs on both sides and begin to understand how a sudden rush of water squeezed between these two walls would have created a moving wall of destruction.  The Mad River has lived up to its name.

Saturday was a perfect day, we wanted to get out early and find a family or maybe a couple that had suffered at the hands of the flood.  We arrived at the school in Waterbury in time for a 9:00 AM meeting for volunteers.  Hundreds of people had arrived from all over the state as well as from neighboring states and Quebec.  The governor showed up and gave a very warm and inspiring speech underscoring the resolve of Vermonters and their long standing tradition of helping each other out.  It was not political it was just what this group of kids, couples, friends, family, church groups and individuals of all kinds wanted to hear.

Sylvie (my wife) and I were getting antsy.  It was 9:45, there were more "housekeeping" speeches and we had not been assigned anything yet.  We decided to drive to Duxbury, a tiny town about 3 miles down the road and very close to the river and the recipient of some of the worst flooding.  We arrived but volunteers had already been busy and most of the homes had plenty of help.  We drove another 20 minutes to the small town of Moretown.  I had been through this village many times and knew it quite well.  We knew that many of the homes were hit pretty badly.  This was no surprise as it lay very close to one of the rivers that had tuned into a monster last Sunday night.

We drove slowly into town avoiding pedestrians, tractors, four by fours, bikes and all manner of vehicles that were being used to remove debris and bring in much needed supplies. The front yards of the homes in the lower lying areas had large piles of furniture, clothes, drywall, insulation, books, papers, and memories scattered and piled.  It was unbelievable, peoples lives lay strewn in their front yards in large heaps waiting for the sanitation crews to pick them up and bring it to some dump.  Tired fathers leaned on their shovels standing in the doorway of their houses still numb from the devastation that had been foisted on their families.  Mothers sorted through damp and muddy piles of clothes to try to salvage a coat or a pair shoes for their children.  But everywhere you looked, neighbors, friends, volunteers were busy cleaning, shoveling, cutting, removing, repairing, restoring, loading, in a sea of activity the permeated from the town hall to the homes on either side along the river bank.

Sylvie trying to stay cool under a
very hot dust mask

We had brought with us shovels, rakes, squeegees, mops, garbage bags, pressure washers, wet/dry vacs and a whole SUV full of cleaning and clearing equipment so that we would be ready for any type of help that was needed. We also brought our lunch, lots of extra water some work gloves, boots and extra change of clothes.  Once we parked we grabbed some shovels, a couple for 5 gallon buckets and headed just down the road where it dipped down and towards the river.  It did not take us long to find a string of homes close to the water that had sustained some pretty major damage.  For the most part, the basements or cellars had completely flooded as well as a few feet of the first floor.  The second house we saw had about 20 people working inside trying to get the first floor dried out and they had removed to first two feet of siding around the entire circumference of the house.  Looks like the inside was covered so we headed to the back yard.  The river formed the rear most boundary of their back yard and so had dumped about 10 tons of detritus composed of mostly wood, logs, fencing and a fairly large amount of non-organic items ranging from plastic bottles to shoes, fence posts, dinning room table and so on.  The back yard was totally covered with what the river had dumped after its angry tantrum.  Shortly about 20-25 volunteers had congregated in the back yard and started to pick-up the garbage.  Within a few hours we had three huge pyres of wood being careful to sort out the non-organic items.  We were hot, dirty and covered in sweat.  I tweaked my back after wrestling with a large fence post attached to some 20 feed of fencing half buried in the flotsam.  Nothing that a little lunch and three ibuprofens would not take care of.

Around 12:30, volunteers, home owners and coordinators started to gather near the town hall where an ad-hoc lunch distribution center was set-up.  Mostly people just grabbed a sandwich and found a space on the grass to collapse on and catch their breath.  Governor Shumlin showed up and worked his way down the lunch queue thanking the volunteers.  After lunch I changed out of my dripping shirt and pants into a pair of cool shorts and fresh t-shirt.  Lots more wood, logs, and limbs to move.  At some point, mixed in with all the wood and garbage we were moving,  I came across a small framed picture of a young girl on horseback.  She was maybe 8 or 9 years old.  A grainy picture but her parent had taken the time to have it framed at a frame shop.    It was difficult to look at that picture.  Who was she?  What happened to her?  What happen to her home?  She looked so happy in that picture.  How was she feeling now?  While she is probably unhurt by the flooding, her life has most likely changed in ways she will never forget.

We finished the day tired and dirty and a little sore but happy we were able to help in a small way.  While we were struck by the devastation and saddened by the loss all around us. I admit that I was most struck by how the very best in human nature always shows in the very worst of circumstances. Seeing this in Vermont is no surprise and reinforces a long standing belief that I have for the amazing people of this state.  They are the most compassionate and giving people I have every met.  I will never take for granted that I have the luxury of calling a few of them my friends.  - Pogo Senior