Overflowed Brook Floods Rubber Avenue Section, Takes Out Embankment

Heavy overnight rain caused a Naugatuck brook to overflow early Monday morning with enough force that the gushing water took out a portion of a small bridge next to a Webster Bank branch.

Borough Public Works crews and the Naugatuck Police Department have sectioned off a portion of Rubber Avenue, which is also flooded due to the swelled Long Meadow Brook. Parts of the road are under several inches of water.

The brook, which runs adjacent to the road, caused a section of the pavement that connects Rubber Avenue and the northern entrance to Mountview Plaza to collapse. Street crews at the scene were using heavy machinery to remove debris from the brook so the water could start flowing normally.

The embankment is part of the property owned by Webster Bank, which has a branch at 733 Rubber Ave. A bank official was on scene to review the damage.

"The facilities people are trying to assess it right now,” said Robert Gunther, a spokesman for the bank. “The branch is closed.”

Naugatuck public schools were closed Monday due to the flooding, school business manager Wayne McAllister said.

Fire Chief Kenneth Hanks said first responders had been handling the flooding since 1 a.m. Traffic onto Rubber Avenue is being detoured, although Hanks said commuters should avoid the area all together.

“There aren’t to many options (to detour),” Hanks said.

As of 1:23 a.m., when police first received an emergency call regarding the flooding, Rubber Avenue between the driveway Elks Club and the intersection with Field Street had three feet of water over it, said Lt. Robert Harrison, police public information officer.

“The street will be closed until the water recedes and until the street department can make a determination that the pavement is stable,” Harrison said.

Apart from the Rubber Avenue flooding, Hanks said the department is also dealing with about 15 basement floods

“Everything form a couple of inches to a couple of feet of water,” Hanks said.