Fort Shantok Area Affected By Flood Waters

Thursday’s flood rains have made havoc of the Fort Shantok section of Uncasville. Orange signs alert drivers to gravel that were placed on several flooded residential roads with drainage issues. Massapeag Side Road has one section where tall orange cones block a part of the road which was washed away near a guard rail. A large white sign informs drivers that the Derry Hill Road bridge is out of service, most likely a result of flooding.
Inside Fort Shantok Park, also known as Village of Uncas owned by the Mohegan Tribe, several areas were impacted by the flood waters on July 27. The Freedom Forest trail is closed in two places; the section near the Freedom Forest rock has yellow caution “Do Not Enter” tape blocking access while more yellow caution tape blocks access to the pedestrian bridge that goes over the pond close to the Route 2A Exit 2 off-ramp.
In the past, this writer has seen the gravel get washed away on the Freedom Forest trail during heavy rains severely impacting the back portion of the trail where there is a change in elevation. During this flooding, part of the washed out gravel could be seen from the caution tape at the Freedom Forest rock.
Another section impacted by the flood waters is the short trail of the park between the falls and the cemetery. Water gushed down the falls making it look like the Niagara Falls than the gentle falls that folks typically are used to seeing.
Yellow caution tape was seen past rain soaked grass near a couple picnic tables directly across from the falls. Part of the rocks that led trail visitors between the grass and a small wooden bridge were flooded out. A quiet babbling brook now has massive amounts of water gushing down it.
While Montville was lucky enough not to experience the flooding that happened near I-395 exit 82 in Norwichtown, there was still obvious damage that can still be seen today.