MONROE, Connecticut — The town of Monroe was among the many areas in Western Connecticut saturated by historic heavy rain on Sunday.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported in town, but the flooding led to countless road closures, damaged homes, and created a gaping hole at one wedding venue.
“Water was coming out so big it was like a giant fire hose,” said John Royce, co-owner of the Waterview.
Royce explained that the property has a parking lot drainage system that drains water through a singular pipe. That water typically flows out and dissipates through concrete boxes shaped in a “T” formation.
"The force of the water was so strong, it just blew apart the 'T' and then it started to erode the ground,” said Royce. “When the water burst the pipes, it just immediately took out the whole side of this area here and ended up in the water.”
Crews have been working to fill that sinkhole in, expecting full repairs to take about 2-3 weeks. Unsurprisingly, the gaping hole led to a big change in plans for two different families that were hosting events there on Sunday afternoon.
“One was a wedding, and one was a sweet 16. People didn’t realize until the emergency services came here. They weren’t really sure if this was going to unstable the building itself,” said Royce.
Emergency crews decided to evacuate the building as a precaution, though the town has since cleared the building to resume normal operations.
“Of course, we wanted to make sure that the property was stable, and it was safe for all of our clients," said Royce. "Once we found that out, I was very relieved.”
There are other outdoor ceremony areas for couples getting married. Royce said the couple whose wedding was evacuated on Sunday is now on their honeymoon and will be getting a full refund from the Waterview. The other event has been rescheduled.
“We’re just happy no one got hurt and if this is the worst that it could be, that is okay with us,” said Royce.
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Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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