Peacham helps after the flood and mourns the death of a resident

This story by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.

PEACHAM – For John Mackenzie, life on Governor Mattocks Road was “magical.” The 49-year-old teacher moved into his home on the small gravel road along South Peacham Brook more than two decades ago. The 1840s-era house, where he and his wife raised their twin teenage daughters, was surrounded by water on three sides. Just a week ago, they were scouting the best summer swimming spots along the creek and watching fireflies in the meadow next to their house.

But last Wednesday evening, the creek turned into a raging river and changed direction, sending water rushing down Governor Mattocks Road. Mackenzie and his family were able to escape just in time before their home was cut off from the outside world.

“My house is on an island now,” Mackenzie said as she peered across the street, now a river, from a neighbor’s yard the following Monday afternoon. “To get to that house now, you have to go back to the main road, hike through the cornfield and actually cross what Was the river – which is much more navigable than the new river.”

Peacham is one of several towns in the Northeast Kingdom that suffered badly from the recent flooding in July. The road to Governor Mattocks Street is one of two town streets still closed to the public, and many more are down to one lane for repairs, according to Town Clerk and Treasurer Rebecca Washington. In nearby Groton, Street Commissioner Harold Hatch said this July’s flooding was “three times as bad” as the historic flood a year ago.

Groton Town Clerk Carrie Peters estimated that about 20 homes were affected by flooding last week and said several families have already expressed interest in taking over the state. In Peacham, a town of fewer than 600 homes, Washington estimated that about seven to 10 homes sustained significant damage — not including the many more homes whose basements flooded.

And as the small town picks up the pieces, it is also mourning the loss of one of its residents, Dylan Kempton, who died near Governor Mattocks when he was caught in the raging floodwaters.

“The sadness in Peacham is great,” said Rachael Moragues, Mackenzie’s neighbor.

On Monday afternoon, Moragues had a structural engineer come and look at the foundation of her house. He told her it was intact but was showing signs of weakness, she said. And if the creek is diverted from its new course back to its old one, there is a serious risk of endangering the house where Moragues and her two children have lived for four and a half years.

When a new downpour hit Peacham on Monday night, Moragues was shaken. “Every little sound from the dehumidifier made me think the earth was going to collapse,” she said Tuesday morning. The terror led her to a decision: Her family would leave the house and try to cash out. She doesn’t know where they will go or if they can stay in Vermont. But she fears that where her house currently stands, it could worsen future flooding for her neighbors downstream.

“My goal is to make 100% sure this doesn’t affect anyone else now or in the future,” she said. “If I have to lose my house to do it, then I can cross my fingers and hope that I’m financially secure at the end of it.”

Mackenzie’s family is also hoping for a takeover. But that’s a bitter pill to swallow. After Tropical Storm Irene submerged the house, the family invested thousands of dollars to protect it from future flooding – including raising it by three feet. Part of the cost was covered by government reconstruction aid, but Mackenzie’s debt to the Small Business Administration for the work was like a second mortgage.

Last week’s storm ripped out the family’s sewer line, threw their barn into the river and washed their cars downstream, which are now totaled at an intersection a few yards away. Trees fell on the roof and the ground floor was three feet under water. Fire marshals have since come and declared the house dilapidated and given it a red tag, Mackenzie said.

The family now has flood insurance – which they didn’t after Irene – which will cover some of the rebuilding costs. A friend has offered them a rental apartment nearby for now. Mackenzie doesn’t know where they’ll move next, but he knows they have no future in their house.

“This time we have to go,” he said.

Although his family has lost a lot, he thinks of the Kempton family with sadness. He knows the family from church, community meetings and skiing through their land. According to Vermont State Police, Kempton was riding a UTV near South Peacham Brook when the floodwaters swept him away. Mackenzie suspects he came down to the creek to make sure the families there were OK.

“He was in that area – so I feel like he was really looking out for us,” Mackenzie said. “It was just absolutely tragic.”