Woodstock, Vermont - August 30, 2011
Dave Brown of Woodstock stands on one side of the Fletcher Hill Road. In front of him is a path of destruction left by Tropical Storm Irene. Further up the Fletcher Hill Road, Irene's strength is even more apparent: a washout as far as the eye can see. Brown is the one of about 12 families in this section of the town that do not have vehicle access to their homes. That means no ambulances and no fire trucks either. If you want to get there, you have to hike in. Something I found out quickly as I began to report this story.
"We are a little short on milk and bread and bananas, but we are OK," Brown said.
Brown has a generator running his well pump. So even though he does not have electricity, he still has water. And he has a pantry full of food.
"We really have everything we need and yet we feel disconnected from our friends in downtown Woodstock because we can't actually get there," he said.
Just down the street, Nedra Gramling's nerves are apparent.
"I'm just praying that everything will turn out OK," she said. "I've got a lot of people helping, so I don't know."
The elderly woman does have company-- her daily caretaker, Laura Robinson.
"We are getting low on milk and we are getting low on bread, but there is plenty of stuff in the cupboards and in the freezer," Robinson said.
The home's well is gravity-fed. So they, too, have access to fresh water. But they do not have easy access to the outside world.
"And it is kind of hard to sleep at night knowing that you can't get help right away if you needed it," Robinson said.
Because both ends of the road are gone, getting to a hospital, if need be, will be difficult.
Robinson asked, "What would happen if we needed emergency care? If she falls or I should fall and we had to get help?"
So, at this point, it's neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends. Brown and Robinson exchange numbers in case there is an emergency.
"My son brought my medicine this morning. He hiked down then I took him back up. And I'm sure somebody can get food to us somehow," Robinson said.
That's something Brown is already working on. He's strung up a zipline that he intends to use to pass food over the blown-out culvert.
"I was going to rig some sort of boatswain's chair and put the groceries in the chair and haul it across the river," Brown said.
Officials at the local dispatch said they were not even aware of the issues on the Fletcher Hill Road, so that goes to show you the extent of the damage in this town. Emergency officials did say that anyone with any issue-- whether it is access to food, water or health care, should call local police or fire departments and they will get help to you.
Adam Sullivan - WCAX News
