Members of the Bethel Fire Department assist Donald Annino through the debris-laden and rain-swollen Lilliesville Brook during the flash flood of July 11. (Provided / Ashley Stackowitz)

Will Never Forget 7/11 Flood

I just returned from a weekend in Lilliesville. The destruction that I saw Mother Nature was capable of doing will remain on my mind forever.

My family and I are so grateful to our neighbors Tony and Mary Gagliardi for calling our daughter to alert her and her friends to evacuate our camp and head to Matt and Jean Cayers’ property, using Cayers’ phone to call 911, as our neighbor Mr. Annino was stranded in his house.

As the kids watched helplessly, Amelia slipped in the muddy waters, and Ryan McCullough pulled Amelia to safety, as she could very easily have been swept away. The Bethel Volunteer Fire Dept. left their families and homes to help our daughter and her friends, taking them back to the firehouse, in the event more rains came during the night. Our daughter’s friends opened their homes for the girls to stay at until the roads were passable.

Willo and Bea McCullough have allowed us to access our property from their bridge, as we begin to order materials to rebuild our bridge.

We will truly miss the beautiful waterfall above Fred and Penny Griffin’s property, that our daughter spent many summers playing at. It appears that there is about six cord of wood and parts of our foot bridge at the top of the old waterfall.

How ironic—we had a discussion in the beginning of the summer, where would be a safe place to go in the event a hurricane or tornado hit the area? It was not high winds, but high water to be aware of! Again we thank you, and may God bless you all.

Richard, Holly, and Ashley Stackowitz and Amelie Mirsky

Lilliesville

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