NEW BERLIN – A Norwich man lost his life to the flood early Wednesday as he was headed to work before daylight.

Robert R. Stockwell, 31, of Holmesville Hill Road in Norwich, died shortly after driving into a ravine in the road near his home. The highway had been washed away by heavy runoff from Whites Pond, a body of water situated immediately north of his home road.

“The dam had partially given way and washed away 20 or 30 feet of the road,” South New Berlin Fire Chief John Robinson said. The chief said the Norwich man’s truck fell partially into the ditch, which was approximately 20 to 25 feet deep, when he unknowingly came upon it. The chief said the level of the pond has fallen a number of feet since Wednesday, and most of the lost water flowed through the ravine where Stockwell was trapped.