Clean-up on public property began almost immediately and roads were reopened within 24 hours. The residents’ yards were finally cleared today.
View full sizeA large pile of mud and debris sits in the side yard of the Hinterleitner and Torres home at 2 Water St. in Greenfield.GREENFIELD – Linda Hinterleitner’s home at 2 Water St. sits at the bottom of a hill, right in the path of chaos wrought by last Monday’s mudslide.
At the top of the hill is Green River Cemetery, where about 3,000 cubic tons of mud began sliding at around 5 a.m. The mudslide closed down roads, forced the evacuation of four homes and totaled several cars.
Water had pooled at the edge of the hill, causing the fine silt banking to cascade down and swamp Water Street, Meridian Street and Deerfield Street.
Clean-up on public property began almost immediately and roads were reopened within 24 hours. The residents’ yards were finally cleared yesterday.
Snow and Sons Landscaping, the cemetery’s superintendent, hired the local Clayton Davenport Trucking Co., Inc., to clear the clogged drainage pipe at the bottom of the affected hill so that water could be diverted from the residents’ yards into the city’s storm system. The Green River Cemetery board will foot the bill.
Town engineer Laurence Petrin said he expects the town’s clean-up efforts to be complete by the middle of this week, but there may be some extra work once the private property is fully cleared because that could carry mud onto streets and sidewalks.
He said he had no estimate of the cost.
Last Tuesday, Clayton Davenport cleared mud from the foundations of the four affected homes, but huge messes remained for almost a week.
Some of the mud in Hinterleitner’s backyard was piled as high as the family’s basketball hoop, a consequence of the foundation work. The mound of mud in the side yard was full of debris, from shards of shattered flower pots and long wooden planks to a rag doll and a leather shoe, all of which Hinterleitner said came from somewhere other than her yard.
“We’re doing all we can for the residents down there,” said Timothy Mosher, a dispatcher with Clayton Davenport. “Basically, if it came off the hill, we’re going to take it away.”
Ashley Torres, who lives on the home’s second floor, said crews began working on the yard at 8 a.m. Monday and by 2:30 p.m. had moved on to the neighbor’s yard.
View full sizeThe depth of the mud and debris from last Monday's mudslide can be seen in the back yard of 24 Meridian St., next door to the Hinterleitner and Torres home.“They did a good job,” said Torres, who had expressed concern that her 4-month-old son Andreas wouldn’t be able to play outside until the mud was gone.
But for Hinterleitner and Torres, the ordeal isn’t over.
The basement was flooded in some places with as much as four inches of mud. They and their close-knit families have spent days scooping it with a shovel into a bucket, but there is a thin layer still left behind that will have to be scraped up. They do not have flood insurance.
Torres said her car had mud in the engine.
She took it to a repair shop yesterday and said she was awaiting a full diagnosis and estimate. Her car insurance has a $500 deductible, she said, which she can’t afford.
“I couldn’t afford a $5 deductible,” she said.
“We’re far from having money,” said Hinterleitner, who lives on the first floor with her son, who is Torres’ boyfriend, and shares Torres’ car. “We’ve got to find rides to school, work, doctors.”
She said her biggest concern was Andreas’ immunization shot appointment this morning.
“He won’t miss (it) no matter what I do,” she said. “He’s my biggest concern.”
Andreas has been given bottled spring water just in case the drinking water was affected by the mudslide, Torres said. She wasn’t too concerned, she said, but “better safe than sorry.”
Petrin said there was no way the water could have been contaminated.
Green River Cemetery board president Alan Blanker could not be reached for comment. Calls to Snow and Sons Landscaping, as well as questions about the cemetery posed to other city officials, were referred to Blanker.
The Red Cross initially assisted the families and paid for a motel room for the Hinterleitners and the six-member Torres family for two nights. They returned home Wednesday.