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News from SCB
SCB HIRES THE IRENE CREW
Nov. 29 - Welcome to our crew of freelancers who will be writing a significant part of our new Good Night Irene book. They are Kameron Spaulding in Western Massachusetts, Theresa Keegan in the Catskills and Nicole Garman in Vermont. Look for the book this spring.
ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nov. 29 - We are still looking for some great photos of the damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Irene. We really need photos with people in them that also show damaged bridges, houses and buildings. If we use your photo we'll send you a free copy of the $25 book when it is published. We can use photos from the Catskills, Vermont, Western Mass. and New Hampshire. Tell us about them before sending to editor (at) surrycottagebooks (dot) com.
BUY OUR BOOKS DIRECTLY
Nov. 18 -- You can now order our books online direct from us! Check out our new Online Store link above. It uses PayPal, but you can also use your credit card. Please let us know how this works!
BRATTLEBORO BOOK ON HOLD
Nov. 17 - Due to circumstances beyond our control we have been forced to withdraw the Embattled Brattleboro book until further notice. Watch this space for updates on this book.
SELF-PUBLISH WITH US
We have some slots available for self-publishers. If you have written a book you want to publish and promote yourself, get in touch with us and we will walk you through the process. Take a look at our Pumpelly Press page for details.
Coming April 1
Publication Date: 04/01/12
ISBN: 978-0-9829853-2-8
280 Pages with more then 150 photos, Including many in full color, 6 X 9 Quality Paperback, distributed by Baker & Taylor and North Country Books or order direct from the Publisher. $24.99.
When Hurricane Irene gathered steam in the Atlantic Ocean in August 2011, most people in New England and New York simply yawned and checked their sump pumps and flashlight batteries. They were used to storms.
But on Aug. 28, the rain turned into a deluge of Biblical proportions. Scenic babbling brooks that few had noticed before mutated into monsters that tore down houses, destroyed highways, swept away cars and even opened up graveyards so that coffins floated down the streets. Super-saturated hillsides collapsed onto roads, houses and cars. Historic covered bridges that had stood for a century and a half were washed away in the torrent of water. Communities became isolated islands when bridges were washed away and the only way to get in or out was by helicopter. National Guard Humvees patroled the once quiet New England streets.
Writers, bloggers and photographers from throughout the storm-damaged regions of Vermont, the Catskills, Western Massachusetts and New Hampshire share their stories and photographs in a new offering from Surry Cottage Books.
There is Thomas Fuller Jr. of Danby Vermont, who saved a bridge by driving his excavator into the flood and crushing a house that had floated up against it. You can read about the couple who tried to drive through the raging waters of Wilmington and had to be rescued by the National Guard. Or read the story of Susan Hammond of Lower Bartonsville, Vermont, who became an international celebrity when she captured on video the collapse of the historic Bartonsville Covered Bridge and posted it on YouTube.
The book is full of stories about neighbors helping each other through a time of extreme difficulty, sorting thorugh the wreckage, helping each other rebuild and offering shelter to the suddenly homeless in communities from Schoharie, NY to Maine.
Using poetry, essays and old-fashioned New England story telling, the survivors of the disaster share with readers what it was like to endure the storm of a lifetime. They also share their photos and artwork, creating an important historical document that will be treasured and passed on to their descendants.
Among the communities we are covering are Brattleboro, Wilmington, Rochester, Waterbury, Woodstock and Quechee in Vermont; Charlemont, Savoy and Shelburne Falls in Massachusetts; Prattsville, Schoharie, Windham and Schenectady in New York and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
If you have an Irene story, a poem or a photograph you would like to share with us, please contact the project editor at editor(at)surrycottagebooks.com.
"From my Window" by Wilmington, Vermont painter Jim McGrath, painted on Aug. 28, 2011 as Tropical Storm Irene flooded the town. To purchase a copy, vist his web site: McGrathergallery.com. copyright 2011 Jim McGrath, used by permission.
The ruins of a house in Burtonville NY along the Schoharie Creek after Irene.
Schoharie Creek Valley in the Catskills Severely Damaged
As bad as Irene was in Vermont, the Catskills clearly had it even worse. In towns like Plattsville, Schoharie, Middleburg and Blenheim, nearly every building in town was damaged, leaving hundreds homeless. And, unlike Vermont, many of the buildings remain unusable months later. Downtown business remain closed. Many residents have packed up and left rather than deal with the damage. Houses assessed for $100,000 are being sold for $8,000.
So many people have left that the towns and schools are worried that there will not be enough tax base left to support them. Blenheim lost its historic covered bridge, the world's longest. The county offices, sheriff's deparment and jail were all flooded and had to be relocated
While dozens of the most damaged buildings have been torn down, houses that look fine from the street are actually shells with their insides gutted. Residents live on the upper stories or, if it is a ranch house, they have been abandoned. At night there are few lights on in the village of Schoharie.
page last updated Jan 13, 2012
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