What six feet of river, sewer water leaves behind
Aftermath-Flood clean up 4/5/01
by Rebecca Pirro
Andover Townsman 
First it was a sofa sitting on the sidewalk in front of 222-226 North Main St. Then it was boxes of odds and ends piled high, followed by wooden furniture warped and twisted by flood waters.
Residents of North Main St. who left when the Shawsheen River spilled its banks and rushed over their doorsteps last Friday March 23, spent much of this week cleaning up and cleaning out. They carried items outside to dry, and left many more on the sidewalk for the garbage truck to haul away.
"These aren't the cheap washer/dryers — these are the good ones," says resident Duwayne Erickson of 226 North Main St. Erickson had not yet insured the newly-purchased appliances when the water filled six feet of his basement and ruined them completely "Financially, you could say we're hurting."
Erickson's wife, Paula, and his two daughters, 13 year old Chrystyna and 11 year old Samantha, are staying at the Ramada Hotel, while Erickson stays with family close by his home, where he returns every day to pump a little more water out of his basement
"I'm trying to keep cool about it"' he says, but he admits the situation is depressing.The scene up and down the street isn't much better. Lengths of yellow caution tape are tangled around brush, untouched by residents who haven't returned home yet The ground remains mushy and muddy, and the sidewalk is awash with sand, rocks and gravel, like a riverbed.
As of Wednesday, Townsman deadline, all the North Main Street homes except the Ericksons' were pronounced safe by Health Director Everett Penney and Building Inspector Kaija Gilmore. Erickson must continue to sanitize his home before his family can return.
Resident Anthony Motollo, owner of 222, 224 and 226 North Main St., says that the other families were preparing to move back in Wednesday, after Townsman deadline. Those residents were also staying at either the Ramada or Tage Inn, where Motollo put them up until their basements drained out. On Tuesday the gas, electricity and heat were turned back on in those homes, Motollo says.
Because it is so expensive to get flood insuaance, Motollo says he will foot the bill for the gas and electrical repairs, as well as other damages incurred by the water.
Erickson is also working hard to clean up. Since the flood came, he's spent his time in vinyl hip waders, picking through his water-logged belongings, which were saturated by the water and sewage from the pipes that overflowed.
"If it was just regular water, I'd be happy about it," he laughs. He plans to buy some Borax and spread it around the sand and mud that was once his yard to get rid of the sewage. "With the girls around, I want it to be protected,"he says.
Steve Curtin, owner of the Sunoco gas station across the street, says he hasn't seen much activity at the evacuated homes since the rains came. He's owned the station for 30 years and has seen the area flood several times.
"It's sad, but I've seen it six, seven, eight times" Curtain says, who knows the homes are located in a flood plain. "When you live here you've got to know it will happen. It's kind of sad that people don't prepare."
Ericksson has lived at 226 North Main St for theee years now, and says this is the worst flooding he has seen yet.
"I have to laugh. If I don't, I'll go nuts," he says. He tries to keep his wife's words in mind. "At least it wasn't a fire, and at least we didn't lose someone,"he says. "These are material things. They can be replaced but a life can't"
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