Torrential rain caused severe flooding and devastation in much of the region last week, but left most area towns with relatively moderate damage, officials reported this week.

The town of Milford seemed to suffer most of the damage, with several flooded homes and businesses along the Susquehanna River and damage to approximately 85 percent of its roads, town supervisor Thomas Gale said Tuesday.

"There's so much washout all around. We've had a lot of different problems as far as getting people from point A to point B," Gale said. "And we're finding out (about more damage) each day." Several mountain roads remained closed Tuesday or were reduced to one lane as damage to shoulders and culverts was being repaired, he said.

Portlandville suffered some flooding when the Susquehanna River began to spill over its banks and some homes along the river had several feet of water in their basements and first floors.

Jay Salone, who lives on the river's edge next to the Portlandville Bridge, said he had five feet of water in his basement by Wednesday night and that his water heater and oil heater were ruined.

Salone said he had four pumps running in his basement at one point but it still wasn't enough to keep the water level down. He said the Milford fire department eventually came and emptied them out, but that within 30 minutes their basement had filled back up.

His mother, Virginia Salone, said it was the most water she had seen in all of her years in the residence.

"We got through 43 years fine, guess 44 isn't my lucky number," she said.

Some of the heaviest damage was to Chlorinator Road, where almost two-thirds of a section of road washed away when a culvert was overwhelmed Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

"That's going to be closed for quite some time," Gale said.

Gale said the town highway department had been working to repair and assess the damage almost nonstop until Sunday, when he said finally got them to take a day off. He said repairs would likely continue through the summer and fall and would hopefully be finished in time for winter.

He estimated the damage would cost "well over a million dollars" to repair, but said it was too early to provide any definite figures as damage to undermined roads was still being determined.

Gale said shelters had been set up at the town hall and at the fire department and that a few different parties had used them for short periods of time, but said most people with water in their homes or driveways ended up staying with next-door neighbors.

Gale said that although the town suffered a lot of road damage, he was happy to hear that there were no serious injuries reported. He said he was also pleased with the turnout from volunteers and the effort put in by the highway department.

"I definitely want to thank all of the volunteers out there," he said.

In Hartwick, at least five roads remain closed, damage to road shoulders is still being repaired and a boil-water order remains in effect for residents of the water district as of Wednesday morning.

Town supervisor Mary Balcom said Greenough Road, Chlorinator Road, County Route 11D in the southern part of town, Gulf Road and County Route 59 remained closed or partially closed as of Tuesday due to storm damage.

"There's an awful lot of shoulder damage and everybody should be very careful," she said.

She said that while the town's new $2 million water project was not damaged by the flooding, the town's reservoir was compromised for the first time in its approximately 100 years of use.

Water came down from the ravine and entered the tank, which then had to be drained and is now in the process of being refilled, she said. It will take two days of clean testing from the state Health Department before the boil water order could be lifted.

Balcom said the tank's valve could not be opened, even from inside the tank. She said retired highway employee Richie Field and a member of the fire department attempted to open the valve to drain the tank after it was noticed Wednesday that there was a problem with the water coming out of faucets.

When that failed, Steve Child and his daughter Sarah went inside the tank in scuba diver suits to attempt to open the valve. When that failed, Balcom said their last resort was to drain the tank through the water district's fire hydrants.

She said this was done Sunday, after the water level had gone down, so no additional homes were impacted by the released water.

In addition to the extensive road damage and water supply issues, probably every home in the hamlet had water in the basement, Balcom said.

"Houses that have never had water in the cellar had water in the cellar this time," she said. "The firemen were pumping constantly." In addition to Hartwick's crew, fire fighters from Bristol and West Bloomfield came in from out of the county to help with the relief efforts, she said.

At least two houses along Otego Creek suffered more serious damage than just water in the basement, Balcom said.

She did not have any idea how much the damage would cost to repair and didn't want to venture a guess at this time, she said.

The town of Springfield suffered only minor damage from the flooding, with some erosion along road shoulders and damage to one bridge over Bartlett Road, town supervisor Tom Armstrong said. The public landing was also under water and closed to all swimming until further notice, he said Monday.

"There's no swimming at all, until the docks are back up," he said. "If the water level goes down, the docks will be up within a week."

Although the town suffered little damage, Armstrong said if the bridge cost more than $100,000 to replace, then he didn't think they had dodged a bullet.

Cherry Valley supervisor Tom Garretson said last Friday that he did not yet have dollar estimates of the damage to town roads.

He said said one road had to be closed for 24 hours after a 150-yard section was flooded.

The primary damage in the town was from flooded basements.

"For the most part, Cherry Valley fared pretty well," he said.