OXFORD, Connecticut — The Oxford community is picking up the pieces after heavy rain on Sunday destroyed much of the town and killed two people.
Many of the major roads were washed out in several places after the town saw over a foot of water in mere hours. There are several detours in place, and the debris is spread all over.
Several homes and businesses are destroyed by significant water damage, many of which may never reopen.
Creative Starts Learning Center, off Oxford Road, suffered the impacts of some of the worst rushing water. Two days later, five-foot lines of mud can still be seen on the walls, and the remaining water still squishes under one's feet when walking through the gutted building.
Right down the street from the daycare is the car of one of the women who was killed in the flood after she was swept away trying to get herself to safety.
Across from the daycare sits another closed road with debris and cars piled up at the crushed bridge.
Half a mile down the street is another pile of debris, including more cars, the daycare’s playground equipment, and a local bar’s patio furniture.
Ron Stasko and his fiancé run the daycare in the shopping center for five years. He said he is grateful the flooding happened on a Sunday.
“Any other day of the week, the children would’ve been in here,” Stasko said. “We would’ve been running up the hill with 60 kids. We really dodged a bullet with this happening on the weekend; this could’ve been a much bigger tragedy.”
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The water receded quickly, but the damage to the plaza and daycare was irreversible.
“We were able to see on the cameras before they shut out how the water was rising, but eventually, the debris came through the back door, and it wiped out every piece of equipment was washed away,” Stasko said.
Today, they are draining the water, clearing the mud, and hoping for a miracle.
“Insurance has told us they won’t help, but we will find a way; the crews will come clear it, put in new drywall, and be back up and running in a couple of weeks,” Stasko explained.
Right beside the daycare is The Boar’s Nest Bar and Patio. The owner, Justin Harding, said the bar had customers inside when the water rose. Many of the customers and employees had to be rescued, and they were trapped for hours as people tried to reach them.
Harding said the cleanup has already begun, but it will be months before he can reopen.
“We tried to protect the building, but the water burst through all of our doors. We’ve never had this happen before,” Harding said.
He said the insurance company will not cover the costs of the destruction; all the repairs will have to be paid for out of pocket.
“At this point we are just taking it a piece at a time, we just have to do what we can and hope we can open again in a few months,” Harding said.
There are several donation options for businesses and people impacted. You can find that information below.
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Brooke Griffin is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at bgriffin@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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