'We don't have the money'

Tornado damage adds to woes in struggling N.H. town

Bill Moffitt walked outside what had been his home for 20 years. The Moffitts's one-story house was destroyed when the tornado ripped the roof from the kitchen and living room. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

EPSOM, N.H. - On a mountain overlooking the southern shore of Northwood Lake, a swath of pummelled pine trees traces the tornado's descent.

Twisting winds tore down the slope and along t he water's edge, razing homes before racing across the lake into this small town about 12 miles east of Concord where three natural disasters in as many years have destroyed dozens of homes and depleted the town's already bare-bones budget.

"The whole town, in the past three years, has suffered immeasurably," said Bob Blodgett, chairman of the town's Board of Selectmen. There are "no words that can explain how much devastation and loss this town has acquired."

The tornado, which touched down July 24 and ripped through 11 communities along a 50-mile stretch, hit neighboring Northwood and Deerfield - where a woman was killed - even harder than Epsom. Officials estimate the tornado damaged between 125 and 150 homes, including about 10 in Epsom, a town of 4,500.

But for Epsom the destruction follows massive rainstorms that flooded the Suncook River Valley in 2006 and 2007, forcing hundreds from their homes two springs in a row.

Rebuilding after a disaster is daunting for any community but has been even more so in Epsom, where the town has operated on a default budget the past four years. Roads washed out by the floods have yet to be repaired. Residents whose homes had been damaged by flood water have only recently rebuilt or relocated.

While the town weathered far worse destruction during the floods, those hit by the tornado say the damage is enormous.

"It's devastating," Bill Moffitt said.

Moffitt, who is 64, and his wife, Arlene, 71, were standing on Lake Sites Drive in Epsom on Wednesday outside what had been their house for 20 years, watching a bulldozer inch a mobile home onto their property. The Moffitts's one-story house was destroyed when the tornado ripped the roof from the kitchen and living room.

The couple were in their living room when they saw their chimney sucked through the roof by the tornado's winds. Terrified, they ran into their bedroom, Moffitt said, lay face down on their floor and prayed. Oak and maple trees, some 45 feet tall, slammed onto the steel room of their bedroom.

That roof, they said, saved them.

"You've lived in this home for so many years, and now it's nothing," Arlene Moffitt said. "And just by an act of nature."

The Moffitts said the mobile home is temporary housing covered by their insurance. They weren't sure how much money they will receive for their home, which inspectors have condemned. They hope to rebuild, but don't know when. But some things won't be easily replaced.

"It's a shame, all these trees," Arlene Moffitt said, as a cool wind swept up from the lake and over the property. "You wouldn't get this with the trees here."

The removal of downed trees on town property is a significant cost that the town says it can't pay for.

"We don't have the equipment to do it, and we don't have the money to pay someone to do it," said Joanne Randall, who sits on the Board of Selectmen.

Epsom residents have voted down increases to the $2.5 million budget four years in a row. For residents with property damage, the last three years have been a cycle of contentious town meetings, insurance applications, and home inspections.

During the May 2006 flood, the Suncook River jumped its banks and cut a new path through Epsom, surging into homes that had not been flooded in decades. When those same homes were flooded again in 2007, residents, fearing they would be hit a third time this year, demanded for months that the river be moved back.

The town partnered with the state Department of Environmental Services to fund a study of the river. Blodgett said the study has yet to be completed.

Given the cost of flood repair, which Randall put at hundreds of thousands of dollars, figuring out how to pay for a third disaster is overwhelming.

The town has been reallocating money from different departments to pay for immediate needs, such as overtime for police officers and firefighters, Randall said. The town budget has allotted the Police Department about $7,000 for overtime, but the department has already spent $12,000, she said. The money in the budget is supposed to last until Dec. 31.

"I'd like to think that people were willing to sacrifice for the good of the town. How can you not pay for basic services?" Randall said, frustrated that voters have refused proposed budget increases.

"Then again," she continued, "some people don't know how they're going to pay for heat this winter."

The state has requested federal disaster aid to clean up after the tornado and estimates the damage to public infrastructure has cost state and local governments $2 million, said Chris Pope, New Hampshire's emergency management director.

Now, state and local officials are waiting to see if a federal disaster declaration is issued. If that happens, funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency may become available to communities and individuals affected by the tornado. But Pope said it was more likely FEMA would issue grants for public rather than individual assistance.

FEMA awards public assistance money for specific infrastructure and cleanup projects, paying 75 percent of the costs, said regional FEMA spokeswoman Marty Bahamonde, leaving state and local governments to split the rest.

Epsom officials said they were not sure where that money would come from. The town has $2,000 alloted for emergency management, Randall said. About $1,800 of that is a yearly stipend for the department's coordinator.

"It's tough when you have to prioritize among things that are all important," Randall said. "You just keep going and hope there aren't any more disasters."

That resolve mixed with helplessness was echoed across Epsom. "There's really nothing we can do about it," said Karen Dail, 40, who lives on Valley Brook Farm just off Route 107.

While her house wasn't hit, the floods and tornado severely damaged land on her family's 100-acre farm, dealing a significant blow to the hay crop.

"We haven't caught up since," said Dail.

In a normal summer, the farm would field three hay crops, she said. This summer, they've barely harvested one.

"It's just unbelievable," she said. "It's a mess."

Aside from the cost, the task is demanding. At a meeting in Epsom on Wednesday night, state officials and staff from the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension told residents how to dispose of the tree limbs and trunks littering their yards.

Even if FEMA comes through with money, the officials warned, it probably will not cover many cleanup costs.

Residents are also expected to abide by a number of state restrictions: Branches and trunks wider than 5 inches in diameter can't be burned. Trunks rooted in land fewer than 50 feet from shore shouldn't be removed.

And residents should be cautious about people who offer to remove wood for free and may not be insured, officials said, pointing out that if an accident occurs, the property owner will be held liable.

Among the heaps of tangled roots and trunks that were once stately oaks, pines and birches ringing Northwood Lake, people appreciate their surviving trees.

"My little dogwood made it," Arlene Moffitt said, as she surveyed the damage to her lawn. "Kind of scraggly, but it'll come back."

Maddie Hanna can be reached at mhanna@globe.com.