After the flood: Manchester couple counts blessings after 32 inches of water fills basement

Dec. 4--MANCHESTER -- A water main break had a West Side couple on edge after their garage and basement filled with 32 inches of water two days after Thanksgiving. Back-to-back snowstorms didn't help.

Lynn Chabot and Jason Loy said neighbors came to their aid.

"When the insurance company said, 'You have to wait until Monday' and everything else, these people were here for us," Loy said.

Silt on the walls of the home at 5 Alpine St. and a Porsche Cayman S sports car parked in the garage show just how high the water rose. Loy said "his baby" is likely a complete loss.

"It found the path of least resistance, which is our driveway," Chabot said of the small geyser that burst from the street around 8 p.m. Saturday.

The couple said they were originally told the damage wasn't covered because they don't have groundwater or flood insurance, but Hanover Insurance has since opened a new claim and will send an adjuster.

Guy Chabot, the city's water works deputy director in charge of water distribution, said the bolts of a 1997 valve corroded, causing the water to gush down the couple's driveway. He is not related to Lynn Chabot.

The break is legally considered "an act of God," meaning the city is not responsible for any damage.

"It has to be shown that we did something to create the liability," Guy Chabot said. "Let's say we were out there digging and pulled the top off the valve, then yes we typically would be responsible. This was a valve with corroded bolts and the top basically broke off of it."

The city will help repair part of the driveway because of a sinkhole.

"But what about all the stuff in here?" Lynn Chabot said Tuesday afternoon pointing to the garage.

As the couple continued to clean Tuesday, Hanover Insurance called saying they would open a new claim, prompting Lynn Chabot to shed tears and embrace Loy. Worcester-based Hanover Insurance did not return a request for comment from the Union Leader Tuesday afternoon.

Now, a water cleanup and restoration company can be called to help because of the claim.

Lynn Chabot, who grew up in the home and moved back in in 2014, said there is no estimate on how much the damage caused. A finished room in the basement had to be demolished and a retaining wall outdoors needs to be replaced.

Many photos and other childhood memories are being sorted through and air-dried.

"I didn't sleep for 36 hours," she said. "I feel relieved now and I'm overwhelmed, but I know this is only the beginning."

The couple, who married in June, said they were touched by the generosity of neighbors, some they barely know.

"We had people here helping who I had met him and his wife one time," Lynn Chabot said.

One neighbor helped shovel and a plumber worked for hours to restore heat, they said.

jphelps@unionleader.com

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