I, Heidi S. Quinn, am responsible for the content of MANY THINGS. Email me at heidi.quinn@comcast.net.
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Click
here for a list of ways to
donate toward flood-relief for Alstead residents Click
here Page down to see flood pictures from Cooper Hill, where the culvert burst down Route 123 all the way to it's junction with Route 12A. As if things weren't bad enough from East Alstead down to Cooper Hill, when the Cooper Hill culvert blew a really bad flood even turned Alstead's world upside-down.
Okay, back to Alstead. Another picture of the washout where the Cooper Hill culvert burst.
The next two are taken from the other side of the chasm:
This one was taken downstream, looking up to where the culvert used to be.
Notice the absence of land and houses. Sometimes it's not what's in the
pictures that's shocking, but knowing what's NOT in the pictures. Just below the culvert. A flag
marked the spot where Tim and Sally Canfield's house stood. Both Tim and Sally
died in the flood.
Route 123.
This is.... where? Someplace on Rt 123.
Route 123.
Is this the Smith house?
This is somewhere on Route 123, but I don't know whose house it is or where
it is. I'm wondering if it's where the Kenyons used to live?
This is the PAVED ROAD with the BABBLING BROOK meandering beside it.
This looks like it's just above Stella Winham's house.
Looking
upstream from that broken up piece of house.
Lafleur's house on Route 123, just before above Gene Wilson's house.
Looking
downstream on the river side -- as opposed to the road side -- of (from the
bottom) Stella Winhams, the Wilson house, the Wilson mobile home. Looking
upstream, back toward the culvert, from Wilson's and Winham's.
Stella Winham's house. The pop raffle for Stella's jar of chocolate chip
cookies at the auction Saturday night collected $92! I don't remember who won the cookies. I do know that Stella is about
the sweetest person you'll ever meet.
Stella's house.
More car pictures... these are the ones down by Stella Winham's I think.
Debris behind Stella's house.
The corner of Stella's house. The next 2 are taken from the river behind
Winhams and Wilsons. Looks like the Winham house was pushed right into
the Wilson house.
The Wilson house and, in the distance, the Wilson mobile home.
Looking behind the Wilson house. Next we arrive at the
Bellows/Thompson house (now owned by -- and recently renovated by -- John
Sheldon), which was reduced from 2 stories to one. The barn seems
to have been removed entirely. Stella's house and the
Wilson homes are behind us (beyond the bottom of the picture). We're heading
downstream, toward the top of this picture. More of the same.
Same house, from the road. This
is the bend in the road just below Mr Phipps'
house, where (depending on which generation you grew up in Alstead) Charlotte and Paul Thompson
lived and before that Beatrice Bellows. John Sheldon owned it the day of the
flood. I've been told the current owners had just completed a very thorough
and attractive renovation of the place. They evacuated at 3:30 a.m. the morning
of the flood.
Here's the culvert laying in ruins by the Bellows/Thompson/Sheldon house. This is
possibly the culvert that caused the whole mess... the one from the foot of Cooper
Hill maybe.
More of the same house. This is taken 180 degrees from
the picture above, looking back upstream toward East Alstead. Note the
culvert again.
Route 123 at the Bellows/Thompson/Sheldon house (which you can see to the right).
Same spot. Same house.
Route 123 and Cold River, near the Bellows/Thompson/Sheldon house.
Walking down Rt 123 (or downstream) from there.
Looking upstream.
Route 123. Looking upstream. This is the same area a few weeks later after
cleanup began. Looks like we've reached the
Corbett house. The Pares lived here before the Corbetts. Anyone know who lived
there the day of the flood?
The Corbett house.
Looking back at the Corbett house. Welcom to the Breshears' house
and roadside farm stand.
Their greenhouses. Michael Breshears took these photos, by the way, and
posted them at the Keene Sentinel.
I can't believe the squashes and pumpkins still sitting on the table there. View from the other side of the
squash table.
Walking downstream from the Breshears', there's the old Crosby house there on
the left (now owned by Scott Gendron), then the Wheelers' old house (now
Rock Wilson's house)... the yellow one that's been pushed
into the road.
The driveway at the Crosby house.
Looking back at the Crosby house.
Across the street is Joe Gryszko's house. Here's a shot of the yellow
Wheeler house with the stream surrounding the approach where it typically runs
under the road. The Wheeler house, by the way, used to sit parallel to the
roadway. See how the water spun the entire thing around?
Looking back up Rt 123 at the Wheeler house (yellow) and the Crosby house
(brown). Same spot a few weeks later after
clean-up began. Looking upstream. Same spot, looking downstream, after cleanup
began. The brown house is the Crump house, or where the Cloughs used to live.
Looking downstream from the Crump's driveway.
A closer look. Getting across is a bit tricky in
some spots.
Same spot, from above. This is the same area a few weeks later after
rebuilding and clean-up had begun. Below that spot. Looking downstream. The dirt road
leading to our old house is on the right just beyond that toppled tree. Note
that the river does NOT run beside the road at this point.
This house was dislodged and sent
almost to Bill Seale's property. I'm told this is Jonah Gosnell's house. Same house.
Because Bill Seale's house and property are
missing in the foreground, you can see straight through to the garage that Fred
Carman used to own, and where Spenser Petty was living in his camper. Both Bill
Seale and Spenser Petty died in the flood. This is the same area a few weeks later. Click here to continue on down Route 123 to Kmiec's corner... |
