CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Nurse’s home collapses during historic Oxford flooding
On Sunday, the normally calm creek beside turned into a raging river that rose so high, it began to wash away pieces of her property.
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Dramatic video shows the collapse of a home in Oxford during Sunday’s unprecedented rainfall and flooding. Now, a massive effort is underway to help the emergency room nurse who lived there put her life back together.
Randi Marcucio moved to East Hill Road about two years ago, becoming a first-time homeowner as a single mom with a young son. But the place she planned to raise her 3-year-old boy is now gone. On Sunday, the normally calm creek beside turned into a raging river that rose so high, it began to wash away pieces of her property.
“A tree came down and took the bridge that was over the creek and from there it was just a slow progression. It was the deck. It was the oil tank. Then the basement was gone,” Marcucio recalled.
When the house started to lean, Marcucio left but said she didn't expect it to be for good.
“At no point did we think I would lose the house,” she told News 12. “It wasn't like a mad dash and things were crashing down.”
Marcucio said luckily, her son wasn't home and was with her parents.
“I grabbed his teddy bear because I knew I was going to sleep without him that night, so I took his teddy bear to have with me, but that was it,” Marcucio explained. “These aren't my clothes, you know? I had my watch on, but everything's gone.”
Marcucio doesn't have flood insurance, so the damage isn't covered. Family, friends, community members and strangers have all pitched in, collecting donations and money. On Tuesday, a few were on hand trying to salvage what they could through a broken window. They managed to wrangle a framed picture and a couple plants. A search of the water also turned up something special—her parents’ wedding album, something that got Marcucio emotional.
“My mom passed away when I was a kid, so hopefully we can do a little restoration on the photo album,” said Marcucio through tears. “It's just been incredible the things people have done to come out and help and be present.”
There are a lot of unknowns for Marcucio and her son going forward, but for now, where they'll live isn't one of them. Local developer Tom Haynes, who's the CEO of Quarry Walk, has stepped in and set them up with a fully furnished apartment there indefinitely.
Donations for Marcucio and her son can be dropped off at Pub 67 in Seymour. A GoFundMe effort has also been set up.
