Neighborhoods evacuated, National Guard deployed

Drenched by two days and more than 8 inches of rain, the region struggled Tuesday to bail itself out of the worst flooding in more than 50 years.

Rivers and streams overflowed, neighborhoods in Norwich and Stonington were evacuated, and stranded homeowners and motorists were rescued by boat. Schools, businesses and tourist attractions were closed, and shipments of sump pumps sold as soon as hardware stores unpacked them.

For the first time in 28 years, Waterford's Lake Konomoc reservoir crested its dam.

By midafternoon, Gov. M. Jodi Rell had declared the situation "extremely dangerous," announcing she had dispatched 150 National Guard troops to the Norwich Armory and Camp Rell in Niantic and ordering state troopers to the region to help stack sandbags and help with evacuations. It was believed to be the first time a governor had sent Guard troops to eastern Connecticut since the Blizzard of 1978, according to Maj. Charlie Jaworski, the Guard's public affairs officer.

"The Yantic River (in Norwich) is expected to reach record flood levels and we are closely monitoring that situation," the governor said. "… Streets and basements are flooding and sewage-treatment systems cannot keep up with the excess water."

The Yantic's level only climbed to a near-record 13.23 feet, good for third place all time behind the 14.66-foot level during the hurricane of 1938 and the 14.88 feet it reached in 1982. Norwich residents were evacuated from homes on Mohegan Park Road and Sturtevant, West Town and Pleasant streets.

With a brook flowing into the Mohegan Park Apartments, crews evacuated tenants. They also rescued a family from a Laurel Hill Avenue apartment building where a 5-foot-high retaining wall collapsed, sending debris and a waterfall gushing toward the road.

Norwich City Manager Alan Bergren declared a state of emergency in the late morning. U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who toured the city, promised aid for those in need.

"My thoughts are with our neighbors who continue to be most impacted by the storm's flooding," Courtney said. "This is obviously a very difficult time for many, and I will do all that I can to make sure they have the resources they need to recover are provided in a timely manner."

Brook becomes

white water

Everywhere, the rain pooled and then obliterated streets and parking lots. Municipal officials declared states of emergency and opened shelters.

As Carl Miles of 246 Bloomingdale Road, Waterford, watched the waters of the normally docile Hunts Brook surround all four sides of his ranch-style home, he knew one thing.

"I'm done,'' he said early Tuesday afternoon, as the rain pelted from above and rose near his feet. "I'm not going back."

About 9:30 a.m., Miles said the brook, which runs along the side of his home in Quaker Hill, had reached his garage. By 1:30 p.m., the waters had surrounded the entire house, covering the deck and reaching the window sills. Miles, who has lived with his family on Bloomingdale Road for eight years, said he was unable to grab much.

"I didn't think it was going to keep going,'' he said, as he stood by a pickup truck and other vehicles he had moved to higher ground. He just watched the water roll by.

The brook turned into raging rapids as it surrounded his house and swept under and across Bloomingdale Road. The water continued downhill, through a bridge under construction at Old Mill Road and burst into the parking lot of Quaker Hill Farms.

The water pushed around two open front doors of the pizza and convenience store and flooded across Old Norwich Road into more yards, finally dumping into the backside of Smith Cove. It carried with it a portion of a telephone pole, tree branches, a garbage can, a ladder and lawn furniture as it raced by.

Bridges and roads closed

A state of emergency also was declared in Stonington.

"The whole town is a mess," said Ed Haberek, the first selectman, who was expecting a delivery of 1,000 sand bags today. "… Old Mystic is a giant lake."

With water cresting above its deck, the Stillman Avenue bridge between Pawcatuck and Westerly was closed, and sections of Pequot Trail, Greenhaven Road, Jerry Browne Road and Coogan Boulevard were shut down.

In the evening, both the Route 1 bridge over the Pawcatuck River and the drawbridge over the Mystic River were closed because of concerns about rising, rushing water during high tide, set for about 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Late in the afternoon, Harold Storrs, director of Stonington's Water Pollution Control Authority, said the town's three sewage-treatment plants had been able to withstand the massive amounts of water they'd taken on and still process the diluted sewage before discharging it into the Pawcatuck and Mystic rivers and Stonington Harbor.

"We're right on the edge, but we're hanging in there," he said.

Sewer plants in East Lyme, Groton and New London let treated effluent slip into Long Island Sound after holding tanks overflowed, prompting health officials to close shellfish beds from East Lyme to Stonington. Homeowners with private wells were advised to boil their water for a minute before using it or to use bottled water.

As far as Connecticut was concerned, the eastern portion of the state suffered the brunt of the storm.

"New London County and southern Windham and Tolland counties are the hardest hit," said Denise Ruzicka, director of inland water resources for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "This is a very serious condition."

The Connecticut River is not expected to crest until Thursday or Friday. Flooding from the Connecticut River is expected to be worst in Middletown, Ruzicka said.

Four teams of DEP inspectors spent Tuesday checking dams throughout southeastern Connecticut. As of Tuesday afternoon, just one small dam on Ingham Hill Road in Old Saybrook had been breached, causing minor property damage.

Day Staff Writers Joe Wojtas, Claire Bessette, Izaskun E. Larrañeta, Judy Benson, Matt Collette, Jenna Cho, Amy Renczkowski and Julianne Hanckel contributed to this report.