MONTPELIER, Vt. − Gov. Phil Scott was supposed to be spending Saturday celebrating Vermont’s active, outdoor lifestyle by leading hundreds of Vermonters on a 93-mile bike ride along the recently completed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.
Instead, Scott and residents across the state will toil amid a monumental cleanup after historic rains fueled devastating floods that washed away roads, trails, crops and homes.
“Vermonters have faced challenges before, and have always risen to meet the moment and overcome adversity,” Scott tweeted late Tuesday. “We will again.”
Small victories were emerging Wednesday after two days of storms dumped up to 9 inches of rain in some areas. The Winooski and North Branch rivers, where flooding had water rushing through streets of Montpelier like tributaries, were receding below flood stage, and city officials said water at the Wrightsville Dam was not expected to breach the spillway.
Tuesday, City Manager William Fraser warned the spillway threatened to release water into the North Branch River. “This has never happened since the dam was built, so there is no precedent for potential damage,” Fraser said.
‘Still in tears’:‘Still in tears’: Residents devastated as Vermont deluged with record rain, flooding: Live updates
Developments:
∎Fraser said the city was shifting to a recovery mode. Public works employees Wednesday were beginning to remove mud and debris from downtown streets.
∎The Winooski River through Montpelier had dropped from its high of more than 21 feet on Tuesday morning down to about 11.6 feet by noon Wednesday, still well above its normal level of about 7 feet, according to sensors.
∎Scott said flood waters surpassed levels seen during Tropical Storm Irene 12 years ago. Irene killed at least six people, washed homes off foundations and damaged or destroyed more than 200 bridges and 500 miles of highway.
Ludlow, other small town took severe hit
The sun was out Tuesday and more sunshine was expected Wednesday. But in Ludlow, a village of less than 2,000 people 100 miles south of Montpelier, the primary supermarket remained closed and the water treatment plant was damaged. The baseball and skate parks were destroyed and scores of businesses damaged.
Ludlow Municipal Manager Brendan McNamara said he talked with residents who lost their homes. Thankfully, he said, no was was killed.
“We sustained catastrophic damage. We just really took the brunt of the storm,” he said, adding “Ludlow will be fine. People are coming together and taking care of each other. We’ve been here before and we will get through it.”
A visual guideA visual guide to the flooding in Vermont caused by ‘catastrophic’ rainfall
More storms take aim at Northeast
A break in the pattern of storms that dumped months of rain on Vermont in two days will be a short one, forecasters warn. An “atmospheric traffic jam” will pound the Northeast with rounds of rain and locally severe thunderstorms late this week to early next week, AccuWeather said. At least three rounds of downpours and thunderstorms are likely to progress slowly from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic coast and New England, AccuWeather said. The first is expected Thursday to Friday. The second round, from Saturday to Sunday. Another round could come Monday and Tuesday.
“Disturbances from the Midwest will tend to slow down and pivot northward rather than progress quickly out to sea upon reaching the Atlantic coast,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek said. “This action will cause much more rain to be unloaded on some areas as opposed to a storm system that continues to move right along.”
Flooding cleanup underway in Montpelier
Jesse Gilsinger, who rode out the flooding in his third-floor apartment, used a snow shovel and a brush to push water from the building’s lobby on State Street.
Gilsinger, 52, who is a custodian at the nearby State Capitol, said he was anxious to get the cleanup started. He said the water was knee-high in the lobby during the worst of the flooding, but dropped dramatically by Tuesday evening.
“Now I guess I’m going to help lead the charge in getting this stuff cleaned up,” he said.
Tuesday afternoon, Anthony Spine, 37, kayaked around the flooded downtown as the waters receded.
“To have seen it with waist-deep water is so crazy,” he said. “I feel bad for all these folks with homes and businesses. It’s brutal.”
Bacon reported from Arlington, Va. Contributing: The Associated Press
USA TODAY
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