South Strafford, Vermont - September 1, 2011
Backhoes and huge holes canvas the town of Strafford
"It's easily a ten in some places-- we're talking 10-12 foot holes," said Dave Kendall of Strafford.
Tropical Storm Irene caused damage to 70 percent of the roads in a community of about 1,000. Thursday, community leaders were back at the table mapping out their plan for recovery.
While road crews like Dave Kendall went into day four of making repairs.
"There wasn't any way in or out of town for a while. So we had to find back roads that were open so we could get through," Kendall said.
Monday, Van Dyke Road in Strafford was washed out. Crews say it will take a good week before it's back open to traffic. This project and countless others could leave the town with a bill of more than $1 million.
"This culvert plugged up and didn't take the water. And it completely washed around the whole culvert and just took everything down right through," Kendall said.
For postal worker Bob Nutting, the devastation has meant major changes to his routine. He's still getting the job done, but he's had to add more than 20 miles to his daily trek and he's brought bottled water along for customers who may be going without.
"You have to reroute. You go on a road and it is washed out. You turn and go to another road, and you come back up and deliver off the other side of the washout," Nutting said.
The state's hazmat chief, Chris Herrick, was also in town looking for signs of trouble. Luckily for Strafford, things aren't too bad on that front. But Herrick admits the state as a whole has major challenges ahead.
"It's the most widespread, but it's certainly the largest I've ever seen in my years in emergency management in the state of Vermont," Herrick said.
Kendall says the mess will keep his team busy and it's going to take a huge effort to get Strafford back to the way it was before Irene rolled into town.
"It's going to take a long time," Kendall said. "It could be months, it could be years to get the roads back to the way they were."
Most of the town roads in Strafford are now passable. The crew out here thinks they can get the stretch of Route 132 they're working on passable in about a week. The town is looking to FEMA to help pay for the damages.
Keith McGilvery - WCAX News
