Cresting River Traps Guests At Vernon Motel 6 Twice In 10 Days

VERNON, CT — For the second time in less than two weeks, people staying at the Vernon Motel 6 had to be rescued after the overflowing Hockanum River turned the area into a pond.

The river crested as the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought more than 5 inches of rain to Vernon Wednesday into Thursday.

The ground was already saturated from the 6 inches Tropical Storm Henri brought to the area 10 days ago when essentially the same thing happened at the motel.

This time around, crews from several different municipal agencies responded to the scene beginning Wednesday night. A barrier was opened on the back of the property to create a ramp onto to Interstate 84 that allowed people to safely evacuate.

Town officials said there were 114 guests at the hotel, but did not specify how many needed to evacuate Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, 45 guests needed to check out. Vernon police assisted some of them who were on foot and could not use the makeshift I-84 ramp through the water with cruisers.