It’s going to take a long time for Oxford to recover from the devastation from flooding. And just getting around town right now is not easy with numerous detours.
Driving into Oxford a day after torrential rain fell, you can still pass through standing water on roads and see the effects of raging currents.
“A stunning amount of damage. The roadway is completely gone. I've never I've actually never seen anything like it. And I hope I never have to see it again at all. This is obviously going to be a very long-term recovery, like for this entire area,” Matthew Maiorano, of Beacon Falls, said.
We drove in on Route 67 passing the horrible damage in the town center and then hit our first road-closed spot.
Normally quick trips become a maze of detours and surreal sights including cars swept away and washouts.
“It was a nightmare,” Fernando Alves, of Milford, said. “There's just mudslides everywhere. And it's, you know, it's road closures. Yeah, it makes it pretty difficult.”
In another area we passed, crews were working with one lane closed. Then another detour with more law enforcement at yet another roadblock.
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“Very shocking, and definitely to see just the devastation. It's, you could see it on Facebook, but to see it in person is a different experience,” Michelle Maiorano, of Beacon Falls, said.
At least six bridges in town have been washed out and parts of numerous roads have been compromised.
It’s unclear how long it will take to rebuild as crews scramble to repair the damage.
“My heart goes out to everybody,” Alves said.
