By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

When Dick and Linda DesRosiers visited their summer home on the Piscataquog River following the recent floods, they knew they’d be spending the night in their recreational vehicle, nicknamed “Lulu.”

“Thank God for Lulu,” Linda said.

Then a police officer visited them, and handed them a copy of a town ordinance barring people from sleeping in their RVs.

“I feel like I’ve had everything in the world taken away from me, and they take away one more thing,” said Dick DesRosiers.

The family lives in southern Texas during the winter months, and enjoys spending summers in the Granite State, Dick DesRosiers said.

When police handed the ordinance to DesRosiers on Thursday, May 18, they were acting on behalf of zoning code enforcement officer Derek Horne, said police Capt. Glenn DuBois.

Section 7.7 of the city zoning ordinances states: “No recreational vehicles ... shall be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping purposes.”

The ordinance is meant to protect the well-being of residents using those vehicles as living quarters, Horne said.

“It’s a concern about the safety and wellbeing of people,” Horne said. “We don’t know how people are hooking up the power, or the quality of the equipment they’re using.”

No arrests have been made in relation to residents sleeping in their RVs, DuBois said.

Because of the emergency circumstances, Town Administrator Sue Desruisseaux has instructed Horne to forego enforcement of the RV ordinance until selectmen discuss it at their June 5 meeting, Horne said.

Three weeks after the May floods, questions about the RV ordinance take place among many other problems DesRosiers said he’s experiencing due to the floods.

“I’ve been told I have to have a certified electrician come in and rewire my house for electricity, as if we were building a new home,” DesRosiers said.

The cost of making the adjustments needed to return his home to code standards could run as much as $125,000, DesRosiers said.

Building inspector Ed Nevue could not be reached for comment.

Residents in the Lynchville/Danis Park neighborhood also said the rebuilding process will be even more difficult than the flooding itself.

That neighborhood, located on the banks of the Piscataquog River, was one of the hardest hit in the flooding.

As residents rebuilt following the floods, the pounding of hammers and the roar of construction equipment could be heard coming from nearly every house one recent afternoon.

“You think because you own your home you should just be able to go in,” said Anita Bergeron of Dumont Park Road. At the height of the flooding, Bergeron said there was 5 feet of water in the home she and her husband have owned for 20 years.

Although flooding occurs regularly in the neighborhood, waters reached unprecedented levels during the May floods, Bergeron said.

“I’ve had water come up to the house before, but I’ve never had water come in the house,” she said.

The process of moving back into her home will involve replacing everything in the home that was underwater, Bergeron said.

Some things, she said, cannot be replaced.

“It’s sad, seeing everything ruined,” Bergeron said. “The material things you can replace. But things like letters and photo albums you can never get back.”

Other residents in the area said they’ve seen their entire lives disappear with the flood damage.

“I’ve lost everything,” said Jacques Forand, a resident of Dumont Park Road, who bought the property in 1980 and built his home in there in 1986.

Because he paid cash for his home, Forand said he did not have to get flood insurance for his property.

“I’ve been told I should just get rid of it, but if I wanted to sell it now I’d get nothing for it,” said Forand, the retired owner of a bicycle shop in Manchester.

Forand also voiced exasperation about the process of gaining readmittance into his home.

“It’s just frustrating, the amount of inspections we have to pass,” Forand said.

Reconstruction efforts on his home require him to strip sheet rock and insulation, remove water-damaged furniture and undergo extensive electrical repair, Forand said.

Building and fire inspectors are currently making the rounds in Lynchville/Danis Park and other areas affected by the flooding.

While the process of moving back into flooded homes may take weeks or even months, a victims have seen a few rays of light in the past few weeks.

Most importantly for some, President George Bush has declared the New Hampshire floods a federal disaster, which will make victims eligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Red Cross is distributing meals and cleaning supplies to residents affected by the flooding, and Goffstown selectmen have voted to waive disposal fees for water-damaged materials at the transfer station until June 10.

Ordinarily, the transfer station charges five cents per pound for the disposal of building materials, $15 per unit for freon-bearing materials such as refrigerators, and $13 per unit for items such as mattresses and box springs.