RUTLAND CITY — Four weeks after flash floods inundated the southern part of Rutland, nearly a dozen households in the worst-hit neighborhood still have no electricity.
As of Monday afternoon, eight Clover Street properties that housed 11 families were not yet back on the power grid, said Mark Sadakierski, the city building inspector.
He said the properties — including several multifamily homes — had to be disconnected from the grid when their circuit breaker boxes got submerged during the Aug. 4 flooding. All the breaker boxes were situated in the basement, as is common in older homes.
Clover Street, a historically flood-prone neighborhood, is no stranger to flood damage, but the current weekslong wait to regain electrical power is unusual, Sadakierski said. He points to the area’s shortage of licensed repair personnel, such as plumbers and electricians, exacerbated by a huge spike in demand because of historic flooding around the state in July.
Nine of Vermont’s 14 counties, including Rutland County, are part of a federal disaster declaration.
“Waiting for an electrician or plumber right now is a very, very long process,” Sadakierski said.
Most of the properties that lack power are rental housing, he said, so landlords are responsible for arranging those repairs.
However, Rutland Mayor Mike Doenges said he is concerned some homeowners might not have the money for repairs, and aid is not readily available. The Clover Street flooding was not part of the federal disaster declaration, which covered the July floods.
Nor does the city government have readily available funding for these types of incidents, Doenges said, so local officials are looking into how to be better equipped down the road.
“We don’t have an emergency fund,” he said. “We don’t have a disaster recovery fund. That’s not anything that the city’s ever established.”
Floodwaters in some parts of Clover Street rose 6-8 feet, which required emergency personnel to evacuate some of the residents by boat. At least 30 neighborhood residents were displaced, said GJ Garrow, Rutland regional manager for the state Division of Fire Safety.
Officials said some of the displaced Clover Street residents are staying with family or friends, while others are now using generators for electricity.
The RV solution
One man came up with a different plan. After staying at a motel and with friends, two weeks ago Jim Robinson bought a recreational vehicle and parked it in his driveway.
He, his fiancée and his stepson have been living in the RV until they can return to their flood-damaged house.
Robinson, 53, said he bought the RV for $4,000 — after deciding to spend $60,000 to buy the property he had been renting for a year. He had been house-hunting for the past two years, so it worked out when his landlord didn’t want to take on repairs from this month’s flooding.
“He decided he didn’t want nothing to do with it,” Robinson said in an interview Monday. “He gave me a deal, and I took it.”
Electricity in the two-family property was restored last week. But Robinson said he expects to stay in the RV for a couple of days more, until the house’s new hot water system is installed.
Three other Clover Street properties that lost power in this month’s flooding have since regained electrical power, along with another one on Killington Avenue, Sadakierski said.
