OXFORD, Connecticut (WFSB/Gray News) – An emergency room nurse says she and her 3-year-old son lost everything when their home collapsed in historic flooding in Connecticut.
Randi Marcucio, an emergency room nurse and single mother, is trying to stay positive after her house collapsed in Oxford on Sunday. Water poured into the house as flash floods rushed down the hillside, and the wooden support posts were ripped away, WFSB reports.
Despite having barely slept, Marcucio tried to act quickly. She was able to safely leave the house, check on the neighbors, and get to safety. She is thankful that her three-year-old son, Riley, was not home at the time, but the family lost almost all of their belongings.
“It’s hard to watch this… I watched my son grow up here, so it’s hard because it makes me think about our forever home and where he was supposed to grow up. And it’s gone,” Marcucio said.
The family did not have flood insurance, so the damage was not covered.
“I have my son. I have my family, and we’re just going to keep going,” Marcucio said. “I’m alive. My son is alive. We didn’t lose anyone on the hill. My neighbors are fine… Everything else can be replaced and repaired, so we’re fine.”
As she tries to recover from the tragedy, Marcucio has a great team of family, friends and neighbors to support her and Riley. Her friends try to salvage any belongings they can find, such as knick-knacks, a children’s book and a treasured photo album from Marcucio’s parents’ wedding.
Popular radio host Chaz of 99-1 WPLR lives nearby and has supported Marcucio’s GoFundMe campaign, urging listeners to donate if they can help her rebuild her life. People are also dropping off food, water and clothing for the mother and her son.
“Our listeners are the most generous group of people I have ever met in my life. They always come over the hill like cavalry when we encounter someone who needs this kind of help. They are incredible,” said Chaz.
According to GoFundMe, Marcucio and her son had only lived in the house for two years when it collapsed. The page has raised more than $122,000 to help the family.
According to the Associated Press, up to a foot of rain fell in some parts of western Connecticut on Sunday and early Monday.
Also in Oxford, authorities said two women were found dead on Monday after being swept away by floodwaters on the Little River on Sunday. Police identified them as 65-year-old Ethelyn Joiner and 71-year-old Audrey Rostkowski.
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