'Heartbreaking': Homes, Cars Severely Flooded In Fairfield By Ida

FAIRFIELD, CT — As Fairfield officials surveyed the damage left by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, they saw oil tanks and refrigerators bobbing in floodwaters, and cars stranded with water reaching the windows.

“Manhole covers were up all over town, people got flooded who never got flooded before,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said. “It overwhelmed all the systems.”

Ida dropped nearly 6 inches of rain on Fairfield between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, causing widespread flooding. Residents near Rooster River were hit particularly hard, Kupchick said, with yards, garages, basements and even the first floors of homes filling up with as much as 6 feet of water or more.

“There were a lot of tears over there yesterday,” Kupchick said. “It was very heartbreaking.”

Kupchick approved overtime Thursday to allow the fire department to pump out residents’ properties, she said. Deputy Chief Kyran Dunn noted that Ida was the second 100-year storm to strike the area in three years as he recounted basement flooding “up to the lightbulbs.”

“In a lot of these cases it’s not covered by their insurance,” he said. “It’s a sad situation.”

Kupchick noted she has proposed allocating $3.25 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to construct detention areas near Rooster River.

“We have real infrastructure issues that we need to address that have an impact on our community’s lives,” she said.

Ida also eroded Lake Mohegan to such an extent that the town decided to end beach season at the lake early, according to Kupchick, who said a cement dam near Gould Manor Park was also cracked in the storm. The damage has created a significant expense for the town, she said, adding that, if possible, Fairfield will request assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday, about 30 vehicles were towed as a result of flooding, 13 road hazards were reported and there were two vehicle accidents, police said. About midnight Thursday, police warned residents that first responders were overwhelmed by calls about flash flooding and could only immediately respond to life-threatening emergencies.

“Our first responders saved a number of people from cars that were filling with water,” Kupchick said, describing how emergency crews towed several abandoned vehicles from Interstate 95 in Southport.

Other affected areas included Chambers Street, Kings Highway and Stratfield, according to Dunn. Sections of Euclid Avenue and Burr Street were closed most of Thursday due to downed trees and wires.

The fire department used an Army surplus truck capable of driving through flooding for high-water rescues, Dunn said.

“The most important factor that contributed to urban flooding in this event were the extreme rainfall rates at the peak of the storm overnight,” Connecticut Emergency Management Specialist Doug Glowacki said in an email to first responders.

“Confirmed rainfall rates of around 3 inches per hour were observed in southwestern Connecticut and likely also occurred in other parts of southern CT. A rainfall rate of 3 inches per hour or more is considered a once in a 100-year event … Also, the fact that these extreme rainfall rates occurred after a complete saturation of the soils in southern CT was a major contributor to the level of damage that occurred.”

Residents can request non-emergency assistance for flooding by calling the Emergency Communications Center non-emergency line at 203-254-4700, option 1. Those who require assistance from a town department can request service at www.fairfieldct.org/311/request/add.