LEBANON, N.H. (WHDH) — Lebanon, New Hampshire had quite a bit of cleanup ahead of them. Rain from the week’s storms caused a lot of road damage to the area.
What was a road in Lebanon, New Hampshire, turned into a river Tuesday afternoon. Water completely covered the road.
There was no way in and no way out.
The biggest concern was what was at the bottom of the hill.
At a community housing complex, 15 people from seven units were evacuated Monday night because of flooding. By Tuesday morning the area had filled with water.
"This was a shock to look out the window back there and suddenly see the whole area filling up with water,” said Andrew Winter of the community housing complex.
Firefighters said Tuesday afternoon's storm came on so quickly — it trapped an unknown number of people there.
"We had Irene A couple years ago, it flooded down at the storage units down there, but I've never seen the roads wash out like this," said one resident.
Washouts for residents on the road had been an ongoing problem as storm after storm socked the region.
This family and a couple friends made repairs to their driveway before the afternoon deluge.
"You could hear the rocks, good-sized rocks coming down the road. It was raining really hard and you could tell that the river sounded different than it normally does. We came down and we couldn't get across. A tree had blocked the culvert and the water was raging down the driveway. We didn't know how deep it was,” said resident Lynne Goodwin.
Just down the hill, the damage was even worse. Driveways were buckled and broken. Long stretches of roadside were destroyed. Ace Esau helped make repairs.
"No I don't know them. I'm just here doing some work and I see them can't get out of their driveway, so I might as well give 'em a helping hand," said Esau.
The sudden storm Tuesday afternoon may have wiped out all that was fixed.
It could be days before people can return to their homes.
Crews needed to repair the street, first so they can get to the area and restore power and water to those homes.