[UPDATE] Avon Volunteer Fire Department Responds to Over 20 Flooding Calls in Local Homes

The first call came in a 11 p.m. Sunday, and members from the Avon Volunteer Fire Department have been out consistently since 3 a.m. responding to over 20 residential calls for water-related problems and flooding.

In one of the homes he responded to the water level flooding the basement was 3 feet.

"[The fire department] pump[s] it out if they can. A couple of homeowners had their own pumps that were malfunctioning and they were able to fix them," DiPace said. "[The fire department] can only take water down to a certain level. They can't take it down until it is dry, but they will make sure that the house is as safe as it can be under the conditions."

DiPace said that if residents have concern about extreme water leakage or flooding, they can contact the fire department to see what can be done, and the department can assess the damage to see what the next step is.

Some roads in Avon are closed because of flooding, and, according to the National Weather Service, if the Farmington River reaches 16 feet, more evacuations could be necessary.

Old Farms Road, which is currently under at least 10 inches of water due to rising river levels, is closed off between Thompson Road and Waterville Road, Paul Welsh, public works highway foreman, said. The Farmington River has not crested yet, and Welsh said the water isn't expected to crest until tomorrow, so the town is waiting until then before public works can begin cleaning up the water from the road.

"It is caused by the Farmington River coming up.... The river's coming up gradually," Welsh said. "Once it gets higher, it backs up everything else and the small streams running into the river."

The Willow Pond, on the farm-side of Fisher Meadows and Spring Lake, near the athletic fields are also flooded, as well as Thompson Brook, which runs along Old Farms Road.

Tillotson Road, which connects with Old Farms Road, is also closed. Secret Lake Road, a private road, is also closed because it is under 4 to 5 inches of water.

There is also water buildup by New Road, DiPace said, but the water is not over the road yet.

Welsh advises drivers to "use caution."

"There is a lot of standing water on a lot of the roads and water is running from people's yards across the roads," Welsh said. "If you see a puddle slow down because you don't know how deep it is."

DiPace added that drivers should avoid driving through flooded roads.

"The flooded road water may look shallow, but you don't know how deep it is. Don't drive through it," DiPace said. "When the road is closed, it's closed."

The flooding on Old Farms Road has not affected Avon Old Farms School operations, Michael Dembicer, spokeperson for the all-boys private school, said, but he saw a lot of sitting water on the roads between Simsbury and Avon.

"Everything seems to be fine here," Dembicer said.

Cliff Gibson, chief operating officer for the DATTCO bus company, said that three buses were rerouted because of road closures on Harris Road, Old Farms Road and Secret Lake Road. Those buses ran 10 to 30 minutes late depending on how long it took them to get to the schools on the detours. Some students were slightly late getting to Pine Grove Elementary School, Roaring Brook School and Thompson Brook School as a result.

"We may encounter some of this again this afternoon, depending on which roads are closed," Gibson said. "The drivers did a good job [this morning].... We were making adjustments as we went along because things were changing rapidly.... We were in communication with the school as much as possible to mitigate the situation. Safety comes first."

Avon Public School building officials did not report any major flooding or water leakage issues at any of the district's schools, but custodians did vacuum water from a stairwell at Avon Middle School on Monday morning as a precaution. The stairwell is susceptibile to water leakage from groundwater beneath the school after heavy rainfall, school officials reported.

The National Weather Service reissued a flood warning Monday morning, after the Farmington River reached 15.4 feet at Unionville. Flood stage is at 12 feet.

The flood warning is in effect until Tuesday evening.

Low-lying sections of Bloomfield and East Granby could be affected as well.

In addition, the warning predicted the water level of the Farmington River in Simsbury was 13.4 feet as of 2 p.m. on Monday and is predicted to reach 14.7 feet by Tuesday at 7 a.m. That level marks minor to moderate flooding, according to DiPace.

State Police Spokesman Lt. Paul Vance advised drivers not to try to drive through the water and Farmington Police warned that anyone seen removing barricades to pass through closed roads would be arrested.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy activated the Emergency Operations Center just before 8 a.m. to monitor flooding and offer assistance to towns dealing with flooding conditions.

The flooding comes after a steady rain dropped 2 to 3 inches, combined with melting snow added to the rising Farmington River.

This story was last updated at 11:55 a.m.