Oxford community devastated by impact of historic storms

Residents in Oxford are on day three of clean-up and recovery as resources begin to pour into the region.

The White House Wednesday approving the states request for a disaster declaration to help speed up FEMA funding to towns and cities impacted by Sundays flooding.

“911 told me to basically stay put get my cats and go up to highest ground,” said Melissa Chopak, whose home was dangerously close to a swelled Little River along Oxford Road.

She said she climbed to higher levels of her home as water rose and the river crested.

“The creepy thing I first saw was a child’s red ball and that was followed by cooler after cooler a surfboard,” Chopak said.

She has been staying with her brother since Sunday as crews work just down the road from her house to repair one of the mangled bridges to Route 67.

She took a break from recovering things from her house to stop at the local resource station in the shopping plaza around the corner. A chance to get food, water, snacks and questions answered about next steps.

“Especially when they are down and out like this, this is really a chance for everyone to rally and just be a good human,” Mark Rozelle with the American Red Cross said.

NBC Connecticut

They are out with volunteers ensuring those who need anything are able to access it. As of Wednesday, they had served well over 50 people day one with plans to be back Thursday from 10 to 3 p.m.

“It’s in the heart, we come out, every first responder, everyone that is coming out here, it's coming from their heart,” said Chip Carpenter with the Salvation Army, which is also out offering food and water to those in need.

First Selectman George Temple also took a break between meetings for an update.

“We are trying to Marshall our resources, we have a lot of people who have very generously donated their time,” he said.

Temple said meetings have been and will be occurring around the clock as they prepare to make repairs to roadways. In the meantime, he is asking non-essential travel and non-local people to steer clear of the area.

We love you, we love your business, we'd love you to come down to Oxford, but stay home for a while.

First Selectman George Temple

Back along the Little River, homeowners are doing what they can as they plan for extended stays away from home.

For Chopak, it's hard to see a community she grew up in and loves, upended. But she sees shreds of hope around every corner.

“I have my moments where I break down quite routinely, but it's really nice to have everyone helping each other,” she said.