by Alex Brooks
The Aqua Vista Campground in Petersburgh was partially flooded in the heavy rains from Hurricane Irene when the Little Hoosic River overflowed its banks last Sunday. There was quite a bit of property damage, but no one was hurt.
Owner Mike Weliczka said most of the campers had already left when the hurricane arrived on Sunday, but when the water started to rise, he closed the place at 3 pm and the Petersburgh Fire Department evacuated about a dozen people who were still there. They stayed for a while at the Petersburgh Fire House, and eventually seven or eight of them spent the night at the Berlin Fire House.
Weliczka said about half of the 157 sites at his campground were under water. Many of the trailers and their accessory structures were moved and damaged, and one trailer may have been swept away by the swift-flowing waters.
The water went back down fairly quickly on Monday, and the electricity was back on within twenty four hours at all the sites except ten which could not be re-connected right away.
On Wednesday the campground was a busy place, with friends and neighbors there working, some with heavy equipment, to restore the roads and campsites, hauling away pieces of broken accessory structures, cleaning and moving trailers, trying to put everything back to rights. Weliczka said he was thankful to the Petersburgh Fire Department for helping to evacuate the place when the waters rose so fast and to the people who were helping him clean up and restore the campground.
The Broken Wheel Campground, also on the banks of the Little Hoosic River, experienced high water as well, but there was no damage to trailers there, and no one was hurt.
