Brownville - The aftermath of Saturday night's storm brought little calm to Brownville, where most people spent their Sunday morning walking along what remained of their neighborhood roads.

"It's amazing. I've never seen anything in this area like this before," said local resident, Sherri Coburn.

Just two hours of heavy rain left High Street ravaged and the families who live there helpless.

"I'm just devastated, I really am," said Maryann Fay, a High Street resident who spent much of the afternoon sitting at the edge of her crumbling driveway, surveying the damage.

"There's no way out of the driveway, none. There's no way out. We have literally no way out. We have to get there by foot," said Fay's daughter, Tabitha.

Their street was one of several closed to drivers for much of the afternoon.

"We thought a dam broke or something because there was no reason, there was too much water," said Tabitha.

A reported six to eight inches of rain was dumped on the town, uprooting its train tracks and even leading to the death of one person, according to town officials.

"In the night, a man was trying to come up Pleasant Street and his car went into the washed out section," said Brownville town selectman, Paula Copeland.

29-year old Charles Bromiley was killed when his car went over the edge of a 15-foot drop off on Pleasant River Road early Sunday morning.

"It was very dark. The rain was coming down and it was just totally dark here. There was nothing that, I mean, it was probably he didn't even realize it was there," said Copeland.

The crash appeared to be the worst of the storm's damage, which could be seen and felt all throughout Brownville.

"This is just crazy. I've never seen anything like this before in my life," said Maryann.

Copeland said the estimated cost of repairs to Brownville town roads is more than $200,000.

A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said fixing state roads in the town will be as much, if not more.

As of Sunday afternoon, Copeland said Stickney Hill Road, Pleasant River Road and Stanchfield Ridge Road were still closed.

DOT crews are expected to continue working through the week until repairs on state roads are complete. They hope to have High Street and Church Street open before nightfall Sunday, but officials said work on Stanchfield Ridge Road will take more time.

Print this Story