Hurricane Irene victims still not forgotten

Whitney Cyr

Managing Executive Editor

While Keene, NH did not see the devastating effects of Hurricane Irene, Brattleboro, VT is still picking up the pieces from the damaging winds and heavy flooding brought on by the hurricane in late August.

Some Keene State College students, however, are doing their part to help out some of the people in Brattleboro. A student organization, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) held a fundraiser in the Student Center where people could drop off any type of supplies that could help out the victims of the storm.

“We went to Vermont to see what the damages were. There was major devastation,” junior and SIFE member Lorin Dupuis said. “We’ve been in contact with Brattleboro and we talked about what they really need to help get these people back on track.”

Jordan Volitkas, a junior and president of SIFE said one of his professors lives in Brattleboro and brought in photos of the damage for students in his class to see. “It was devasted,” Volitkas said. “We wanted to have a fundraiser to increase awareness. We don’t think about Irene in Keene, but in Brattleboro, it’s not something we can fix overnight.”

“We haven’t gotten a lot of donations, but any little thing would be a great help,” Dupuis said.

A twenty-minute ride to Brattleboro and the aftermath of Irene is making a life-altering impact on some of the people there. In Glen Park, a trailer park for senior citizens, Mary Durland, a resident, explained around a dozen mobile homes were completely destroyed by heavy flooding in the area.

“We’re trying to clean up and take out the wet molding in a lot of the homes,” she said. “We have a serious mold and toxic dust situation here.” Durland said there are months of work still ahead of her and the other 40 volunteers who were working together to get the community back on track.

“We have some people in motels, some in other mobiles, and others are now searching for permanent homes,” Durland said. “Some people have been here for fifty years, and they can never go home.” While Durland complimented the town of Brattleboro for helping this small community, Durland noted not everyone was happy with the help FEMA has provided. “It seemed more like a dog and pony show,” she said. “We need help right away with grants and money and FEMA is not forthcoming.”

Despite volunteers succumbing to respiratory problems because of the dust, 40 to 60 people had shown up on a daily basis to deconstruct the mobile homes. “The volunteer help is wonderful,” Durland said.

One volunteer, Myron Vose, lives in Brattleboro and wanted to come to help out his friends. “His home has been completely ruined, it’s condemned,” he said. He spent the afternoon helping clear out the molding under his friend’s mobile home. “My heart breaks for these people,” he added.

Dorothy Dow, a resident of Glen Park, watched as volunteers removed some of the skirting around her home. “It’s terrible here,” she said. “I hate getting up in the morning.” She said she’s not sure how she’s getting her molding and insulation back, and she hopes FEMA can pay for it because she can’t afford the repairs.

“I hate to see my friends go,” she said. Some of her neighbors were in nearby motels or where living somewhere else. “I hope they don’t kick me out or else I’ll go live under the bridge with the rest of the homeless people.” Across the street, a small white dog pulls on its leash towards its now destroyed home. The owner, Phyllis Haskell, pulls her dog back towards her. “The dog hasn’t gotten used to the fact that this isn’t our home anymore,” she said. “I’ve been here for 13 years, I don’t want to relocate. You’d have to carry me out.” Haskell was lucky enough to find another mobile home in a different park, but it’s no consolation compared to what she’s lost.

Haskell’s best friend and neighbor, Rose Calderon, said she’s overwhelmed with emotion for her friend. “My best friend is leaving, I’m so sad,” she said, shaking her head. “I cried my eyes out for my friends.” Calderon said for days, there was no one to help. Only when she spoke up to the Brattleboro Reformer did the community see an outpouring of volunteer help. “The Reformer called us the forgotten ones,” Calderon said. She said she was losing many, many friends. “I’ll always remember my friends. I wake up in the morning and hate the sound of people working.”

Pastor Steve McClellan explained a nearby river flooded, came in and washed away the foundations and insulations in many of the trailers. With the surrounding trees around the area, the water hit the wall of trees and surged back towards the community, inflicted even more damage. He pointed out one trailer in a huge row of nearly demolished trailers. “Only one trailer was spared,” he said.

Sadie Zuch, a 16-year-old from Winchester, Mass., is a volunteer from the Winchester Unitarian Society Youth Group, and she went to Brattleboro with a small group of people to help out any way they could.

“We just wanted to be involved,” said Zuch. “We’re very grateful to be here today.” She was there to help demolish one mobile home that was completely devastated. Zuch’s church group had also gone to the Gulf Coast, North Carolina, and New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit to help rebuild communities. “Anything they need us to do, we’re here to help. It’s awful. There are no words to describe it. I really wish these people the best,” she said. “I hope they can get back to their normal lives.”

Another resident of Glen Park, Gloria-Jean Earle surveyed the damages among the whirring sounds of power tools, hammers pounding, and the clunk of metals and insulation being thrown into a dumpster around her. “We’ve lost some stuff, but we haven’t lost as nearly as much as our neighbors. It was quite a blow here.” She explained she had lost her shed and there was an enormous amount of mud under her mobile home. “I still live here, we were very lucky.” Her friends and neighbors across the street, however, weren’t so lucky.

“It’s sad to see our friends lose their homes. Some people are very old and don’t have a home anymore.” Earle said one of the oldest residents of the park was 95 years old. While volunteers were walking around in Hazmat suits and surgical masks, Earle said the smell in the park wasn’t healthy for anyone, and she said she was concerned for the health of the people living here. “We’re all part of a family here,” she said. “I’m thankful for all the people who are coming to help us. It’s a blessing.”

Whether through volunteer work or through donations with the help of KSC student organizations, communities like Glen Park in Brattleboro will continue the process of rebuilding. Lorin Dupuis, the organizer of the SIFE fundraiser, said the point of donating was to “help out VT the best we possibly can.”

Mary Durland, the Glen Park resident and organizer of the clean up, said she is thankful for anyone who is able to help out in the massive clean-up.

Whitney Cyr can be contacted at wcyr@keene-equinox.com.