NORTHAMPTON — With smaller rivers around the county dropping below flood stage Tuesday, attention turned to the still-rising Connecticut River and the homes and businesses in harm’s way.

At Brunelle’s Marina in South Hadley, the river sent tons of debris slamming into the docks, causing extensive damage.

“It’s hard to tell what we’re even looking at here,” said Kim Cook, as she and Amy Jamrog surveyed the piles of logs, tree bark and rubbish jammed together out in the water where their boat would normally be docked.

All the boats were safely out of the water before the damage occurred, and owner Luke Brunelle said in a statement he was “committed to restoring operations once it is deemed safe to do so.”

Brunelle thanked neighbors and community members for their support and assistance.

Sportsman’s Marina in Hadley also was hit hard. Owner Gary Pelissier said river torrents swept away his whole main dock, about 600 feet long, with side docks attached, during the night.

“I don’t know if it can be recovered,” he said. He said it will be expensive and time-consuming to replace.

The water was still rising Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s water data, just below flood stage at the I-391 bridge in Holyoke at 24.05 feet. The stream flow was still climbing at 90,800 cubic feet per second at 4 p.m. Both measurements appeared to eclipse all records for the last 10 years.

There were fears that worse was to come after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday evening they expected to release “unprecedented quantities of water” over Ball Mountain Dam and Townshend Dam on the West River in Vermont and called for preparations to evacuate people in low-lying areas downstream. The river is a major tributary of the Connecticut River in southern Vermont.

But in an update Tuesday morning, the Corps said a massive release would no longer be necessary.

“Water will still be released from the dams, but in smaller amounts than previously anticipated,” the Corps stated in a Facebook post.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency was staying in contact with local emergency management directors along the Connecticut River, public information officer Sara Porter said.

Along Hadley’s Aqua Vitae Road, residents are used watching the river levels. Michael and Diana Damon raised their house by several feet after Tropical Storm Irene came close to flooding it in 2011.

On Tuesday, they watched the river lap at its new shore close to their home’s concrete apron, and Michael Damon grabbed the binoculars to get a view of a large object floating down near the far bank. It was a barrel — not as interesting as the entire beaver dam they saw earlier.

Joshua Miller said he was walking with a friend on the Norwottuck Rail Trail bridge over the river when a bicyclist yelled out, “Look, a moose!”

They watched as it made its way from Damon Road to the island, where it emerged and vanished into the woods.

Miller, who has lived in Northampton for decades, said it was his first moose encounter.

The receding Mill River allowed Northampton public works employees to remove the uprights for the flood-control gates on West Street and reopen the street.

DPW Director Donna LaScaleia said a dive team from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation inspected the West Street bridge over the Mill River and deemed it undamaged.

Farmers and gardeners on Grow Food Northampton’s Meadow Street land were not so fortunate. The community farm was flooded when the Mill River breached its banks on either side of Meadow Street, Executive Director Alisa Klein said. Seven of the 10 small farms leasing land there experienced some crop loss, with two suffering total loss, along with damaged equipment and infrastructure. Some 300 community gardens also had flood damage, she said.

Klein said elected representatives are looking into relief funds from agencies such as the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Grow Food will be launching a flood relief fund.

“We’re doing work parties daily” to help with cleanup, she said. “We’re looking for volunteers for the next two to three weeks.”

Staff Writer James Pentland can be reached at jpent land@gazettenet.com. 

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