Flash floods once again hit Vermont, damaging homes and roads
SUTTON Vt AP Communities in rural parts of Vermont on Friday woke up once again to damaged homes and washed-out roads due to heavy rainfall and flash flooding making it the third consecutive summer that severe floods have inundated parts of the state Up to inches centimeters of rain fell in just a scant hours on Thursday prompting rapid flooding as local waterways began to swell revealed Robert Haynes a meteorologist with the National Weather System s Burlington office Nearly homes were cut off in the small town of Sutton as a local brook promptly rose from its banks and surrounded buildings Fire Chief Kyle Seymour declared His crews were called out to help rescue people from two homes which required help from swift-water rescue teams called in from neighboring communities This was an incredibly strong quick-moving localized heavy water Seymour noted It overwhelmed all of our road culverts all of our streams all of our rivers But the actual weather event lasted three hours with the bulk of the rain concentrated within one hour Though the severity of the storms wasn t as widespread compared to the past two years local functionaries were still surveying the extent of the damage Friday morning and shaking their heads that they were dealing with flood recovery for three years in a row When I started seeing the reporters saying it wasn t going to be that bad I didn t believe it Seymour explained adding that at least one member of his crew has contemplated retiring after experiencing such repeated flood emergencies Michelle Tanner stood Friday on what used to be her driveway dismayed that for the third time her property was washed out by flooding She and her family have lived in Sutton for years and want to continue doing so but fear what another flood might do We don t know if the house will make it again Tanner explained We ll see what happens We don t want to start all over though I guess we are Tanner s daughter Tanika Allard stated taking in the flood damage once again made her tear up This year by far did the worst amount of damage with the least amount of rain which didn t make a whole lot of sense she explained According to the National Weather System Vermont s experience with floods can be traced to both ongoing surroundings change and the state s mountainous geography Greater rainfall and increased moisture availability have made the state s steep terrain more susceptible to flooding Elsewhere in Vermont heavy winds blew off a vital portion of a high school s roof in Addison County Meanwhile flash flooding also occurred in Massachusetts on Thursday after rains dumped more than inches centimeters of rain in specific areas Several businesses were flooded in the town of Weymouth which saw the bulk of the rain and flooding while commuters faced delays as highways and streets south of Boston flooded Kruesi communicated from Providence Rhode Island Source
