Salisbury residents deal with flooding’s wrath

SALISBURY -- A large section of Dairy Hill Road in the town of Salisbury is gone.

Floodwaters from the normally tame Spruce Creek obliterated hundreds of feet of road during the Halloween storm and exposed a main water line to the elements.

One week later, the rubble remains untouched, leaving those north of the break to detour many miles from their normal travels.

"It's going to take me an hour longer to get to the city (Little Falls) with this mess in my way," said Robert Broderick, who lives just up the street from the closed road.

Herkimer County Highway Superintendent Mark Nagele couldn't be reached for comment Friday evening, but town officials confirmed the water main for the city of Little Falls is exposed as a result of the damage.

Broderick said he was told the road will be reshaped and rough-paved to make it passable but he didn't know when that would happen.

"They'll have to cover the water main before winter anyway," he said.

Broderick has lived there 10 years and said this past event was the worst flooding he's seen. While his home, which is just downstream from Spruce Lake was spared, he said that water was pouring around both sides of the dam with nothing to stop it.

And all that water was headed downstream toward Salisbury Center.

"I've lived here 40 years and never had water in my cellar," said Jane Malin, who lives on Kingsley Road adjacent to the covered bridge in Salisbury Center.

This time was different.

Floodwaters pushed across her lawn and into her 200-year-old home, filling the basement with 3 feet of water. There was damage to her foundation and furnace, but Malin said it did not reach the first floor.

"That was such a relief," she said.

Due to closed or impassable roads, Malin was unable to get back to her home until Saturday.

Since that time, a new furnace was installed, and she's planning to get an estimate for the foundation repair.

"I don't have insurance to help with any of this," Malin said. "I feel lucky, though. Dolgeville really was messed up."

Malin said she will look into putting up a possible retaining wall as a precaution for future events.

"I'm not really worried -- but I can't ignore it," she said.

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