Vermont was saturated by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday, leading to severe flooding in many of the same areas that experienced catastrophic flood losses exactly a year earlier.
“It’s not lost on any of us the irony of the flood falling on the one-year anniversary to the day when many towns were hit last year,” begins Governor Scott.
Governor Phil Scott acknowledged that in itself increased anxiety about Beryl’s impact.
“But we’re ready. Our response and tools are only stronger as a result of last year and we will get through this,” Scott said. “The fact is we’re Vermont Strong for a reason. And that means those impacted will have many, many all across the state standing with them.”
The Republican was surrounded by many of the same emergency response personnel who assisted with flood response last year. Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said they are working to determine the total impact of this storm. She said Beryl affected the northern two-thirds of the state and as of mid-day most, but not all rivers, had crested.
“Our swift water teams made dozens of rescues overnight and facilitated numerous evacuations. We are still in active response mode,” Morrison reported. “We also have extensive work to do in secondary searches in many communities that were the hardest hit. Damage reports are still coming in. The primary hazard overnight was flash flooding and that has mostly resolved. Subsequently there was some main stem river flooding.”
Morrison warned that rivers are not safe due to fast currents containing debris.
The Agency of Transportation reported that 54 state roads were closed and six bridges were damaged by debris, three of them destroyed. Damage occurred to rail infrastructure including significant damage to tracks in the Middlesex area used by the Amtrak Vermonter.
Thirteen swift-water teams from Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire completed 118 rescues overnight. The Vermont Army National Guard is assisting with helicopter searches in the hardest hit areas and helped with overnight evacuations.
The city of Barre was still recovering from last year’s flood when it was submerged again in this storm. Mayor Thom Lauzon said this year the water rose very quickly.
“It’s tough. It’s tough to watch folks in your community suffer and go through this again. But as I stand here, a bit discouraged, I’m also very proud,” Lauzon said. “By 5 o’clock this morning our crews were out cleaning up the mud and cleaning up the debris. Someone was looking over us because the rain stopped about 9:30. We saw another band that was supposed to come through at about 10 or 10:30. That band didn’t arrive until just around midnight. That two-hour break in the storm allowed the river to recede approximately three feet; allowed us to regroup. But like I said, we’ve got a lot of work to do. And as I talk about Barre, I just want to say I’m not unmindful of what other communities are experiencing and I know for some of the smaller communities in central Vermont this is especially hard.”
One suspected weather-related fatality was reported Thursday morning.
Essex County, New York also was impacted by the storm with road and property damage occurring in eastern parts of the rural county.
