OT: Irene aftermath in VT

[itsflantastic]

So seems like everyone is saying that Irene was nbd, but I just came across videos from Vermont of flash flooding. Wow. It's just unreal. Any forumites live there (Brattleboro/Wilmington/Marlboro?)/you ok?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTcoH_yoDM&feature=channel_video_title
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH1bWrlFLIU

[tele]

just saw similar on the news as well, hope all the brothers and sisters in VT are hanging in there.

[VTCaraco]

Carnage is unbelievable in Bennington.
My wife decided that we needed some tiramisu to whether the storm so ventured out around 1 for the last few ingredients. As the garage door comes open, the power kicks out. Not a big deal...
Pull out of our driveway, down the hill (which I tend to curse when returning on bike ~~ one of those up hill from any direction locations), and find the volunteer crews out redirecting traffic. As I'm looking to see what all the hoopla is about I realize that the Walloomsac River has obliterated its banks and the water is flowing like crazy. We continue towards the supermarket and see rescue workers in water up to their chest in the parking lot for Hannaford, water halfway up the doors of cars in the Hampton Inn, and water nearly over the roofs of cars in Chilis. At this point we're absolutely flabbergasted, but forge ahead to find Price Chopper in a similar condition, Walmart, too (if you know the area). At that point we turn around and notice some homes and businesses that we've known for years with water creeping to their doors. Simply tragic.

When the rain slowed a bit we wandered out to walk the dog and assess our neighborhood and found Lake Paran and other local waterways gushing over dams and near flooding levels up in North Bennington (where we live). Volunteers at the fire department inform us that the power was flipped as the water neared the sub-stations. No idea when they'll be able to get it turned back on. As we continued down Rt 67, thinking we could do the 5-mile big block around Bennington College, we're thwarted about halfway with better than a foot of water running over the road. Brush, garbage, all sorts of debris floating down the river with lots of friendly faces out walking in the rain, talking on cell phones, trying to get a feel for the scope of damage.
We've been here for 14 years. We've seen flooding with the spring thaw on the Battenkill, Walloomsac, and the Hoosic River down in Williamstown, but this is far and away the worst damage we've ever seen. And as the OP suggested, the hardest hit was supposed to be east of us. Maybe our water damage is more significant if the rain has flooded down the west side of the Green Mountains. Either way, I'm amazed at the destruction and hope that others are okay.

[Matt-H]

Holy crap, I can't believe some of the footage I've seen of Brattleboro. I've spent a lot of time there as a dear friend has lived there for years. I have not yet spoken to him.

Despite some folks downplaying the storm and claiming it has been overhyped, this has been a very destructive event. Our rivers will crest sometime tomorrow and it's going to be ugly.

[sailorboy]

Any residents of Waitsfield/Warren here? How did you fare in this thing?

As I recall you all had a tough go in May this year as well with some flooding. Hopefully this didn't serve up another round in the same year.

[BengeBoy]

Apparently lots of flooding in the Catskills -- this local blog has lots of live updates and links to various towns:

http://www.watershedpost.com/

[fiamme red]

Apparently lots of flooding in the Catskills -- this local blog has lots of live updates and links to various towns:

http://www.watershedpost.com/I appreciate your posting this, since I'm headed up that way in a couple of days. I've seen some bad flooding in the Catskills before, but nothing like this.

[dauwhe]

My dad lives in Brattleboro and is OK. Many friends live up in the hills (Marlboro, Guilford, Halifax) and are OK last time I heard, but probably can't get out. Shelburne Falls, MA is a mess--water over the Bridge of Flowers, at least one building swept away. Hard to find out what's going on.

Weird to think that most of the roads we were on yesterday for D2R2 are now closed, flooded, or washed out.

Dave

[loewer]

We are waking up in Vermont to inconceivable devastation -- with many bridges lost, roads destroyed and buildings flooded. Here in Waterbury the village flooded during the night, and in the Mad River Valley and Waitsfield many of the roads I rode Saturday are trashed. It was a truly frightening and destructive storm, and I'm sure it will take daylight to appreciate the scope.

Jeff

[MattTuck]

Yeah, it's bad. In Quechee, VT, the covered bridge got mostly destroyed and the Simon Pearce restaurant and glassworks (If you appreciate fine hand made glass products, check them out) was completely inundated.

[Nelson99]

But in CT I lost halh my mature maples and every tree in my orchard is either lying flat, or leaning at 45 degrees. The amount of rain combined with the high winds from the opposite direction of the prevailing winds really took a toll on the trees. Big old maples are down all over town. Going to spend the day with lots of rope and stakes to see what can be saved. Good luck to all.

[572cv]

the hammer came down. The road closure map looks like the whole area is impassible, and that is not far from the truth. The flooding was, in many areas, worse than the aftermath of the legendary 1927 flood. My good friend John's business in Northfield was destroyed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32185548@N00/6090522119

We have had a nice summer, but book-ended by incredible flooding. I didn't think we would see worse than we saw at the end of the spring this year, but Irene proved me wrong. It was incredibly bad here yesterday, and the remaining surge of collected flood waters in the main rivers will do more damage today.

Of some concern to cyclists perhaps coming from outside the area would be the condition of the Green Mountain Stage Race. Many of the roads used by the race may have been damaged, not sure of the condition yet, but I did hear the route numbers called out on the radio last night as "closed due to flooding". The Green Mountain Bicycle Club has a web site with road info: www.thegmbc.com , and there is also a site for the GMSR at www.gmsr.info

Riders coming should monitor the situation. The criterium at least, in Burlington, should be fine.

[VTCaraco]

Any idea how Johnson held up?
Got a brother-in-law up there. He has a spring-fed pond in the backyard. I imagine his property is a mess. So many dirt roads around him (makes for some real challenging driving every spring).
Between the rivers, dirt roads, and general out-of-the-way living, sure hope for nothing worse...

[572cv]

Any idea how Johnson held up?
Got a brother-in-law up there. He has a spring-fed pond in the backyard. I imagine his property is a mess. So many dirt roads around him (makes for some real challenging driving every spring).
Between the rivers, dirt roads, and general out-of-the-way living, sure hope for nothing worse...

I heard on the radio that there were extensive culvert washouts, and the Lamoille River was over its banks in places... but it was not everywhere. Parts of Morrisville were hit, parts were not. Dirt roads were probably wiped out all over.

[Andreas]

Yeah, it's bad. In Quechee, VT, the covered bridge got mostly destroyed and the Simon Pearce restaurant and glassworks (If you appreciate fine hand made glass products, check them out) was completely inundated.

Quechee bridge is gone - not just mostly destroyed.
Lot's of villages cut off because of flooding, no power, cell or land lines. Rescue crews and utility vehicles can't reach because of flooding.

[Nooch]

Yeah, it's bad. In Quechee, VT, the covered bridge got mostly destroyed and the Simon Pearce restaurant and glassworks (If you appreciate fine hand made glass products, check them out) was completely inundated.

I spent every summer of my young childhood in Quechee, and news of this is breaking my heart. I was planning on bringing my wife up for the first time this fall, to hike the gorge, go and enjoy simon pearce, and maybe sneak in a ride or two..

If you have any pics/links as to the devastation in Quechee I'd be interested to see them.

D

[gdw]

Quechee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2oDT_fV6Vs&feature=related

[thwart]

May be able to be rebuilt?

http://i.imgur.com/lSTA1h.jpg

[tv_vt]

I was on the Quechee covered bridge on Saturday. In the Simon Pearce glass shop to buy a wedding present for a friend. Was also at the Woodstock Farmer's Market after a nice 50 mile bike ride with a dozen riders from the Killington-Pico Cycling Club. The WFM sits right on the bank of the Ottauquechee River. Needless to say, it was under water yesterday (search: The Vermont Standard for photos).

What is a little weird to me is that this is not the first time this has happened. I have photos of the 1973 flood that took out the same two spots. I'm sorry to say that we've forgotten a little that rivers are not tame creatures, even if it has been close to 40 years between their wild outbreaks. I drove through Brattleboro and Wilmington on Friday for work. On Route 9 west of Bratt, there were these huge piles of landscaping material - mulches, compost, etc., sitting right on the floodplain. We're talking 20 feet high. Next to the Farmer's Market in Woodstock, there's an appliance/propane company and they had rows and rows of propane tanks stored next to the building. Where is all that stuff now? Downriver. Yesterday, these monster propane tanks were floating down the Ottauquechee River, occasionally exploding in the water. (Why was there propane in those tanks, anyway?) I heard they closed the Quechee Gorge bridge on US Rt 4 because there was so much propane gas accumulated down in the gorge from all the tanks breaking up in there and they were afraid of a huge explosion.

Lots of roads on each side of all the gaps have damage. For every "gap," there are two brooks, one on each side of the gap, and the roads over the gaps follow the brooks... You can figure out the rest.

We did escape the wind, for the most part. I never lost power at home yesterday, which was a pleasant surprise. Actually, without the internet, we wouldn't have known how incredibly bad some areas were hit until the papers started coming out today.

But the flood damage is so widespread. Seems to be everywhere in the state. It's going to be a long, long time before this is cleaned up.

On a related topic, last week the VT Secretary of Transportation was warning that all road projects may come to a screeching halt at the end of September if the bozos in Congress don't approve the renewal of the Highway Gas Tax, which provides matching funds to states for road work. Let's hope there is a shred of sense in that place and they don't play politics over that...

Thom

links: Brattleboro Reformer: http://www.reformer.com/
Vermont Standard (Woodstock): http://www.thevermontstandard.com/

[MattTuck]

Yep, not like the flooding in the midwest, the topography of Northern New England and VT in particular makes for some fast moving and very volatile conditions.

Really hope that people can get around ok, and first responders can get to people in need.

I guess the lesson is, if possible, live on a hill, not too close to a stream.

[Nooch]

May be able to be rebuilt?

http://i.imgur.com/lSTA1h.jpg

That looks like it sucks. A lot. But it's still there, for the most part, and with any luck can be rebuilt. Looks as if the pedestrian walkway is completely gone, but otherwise (fingers crossed) it can be rebuilt.

[djg]

Hope you're all managing, given the circumstances, in Vermont and elsewhere.

My wife spent a happy year as a law clerk in Brattleboro in the late '80s and she and I have been back at times to visit -- we were both really sorry to see the photos and read the news.

[rustychain]

I'm gutted by this. I spend lots of time riding in Vt. The whole state has been hit. As to were is safe, many of the homes and bridges being distroyed are over 100 years old. That implys something about a safe location. This is an uncommon event. Vt has to be one of the safest places I can think of to live.
I'm seeing very little on the national press about this. Have the Feds declared it a disaster area?

[VTCaraco]

Not sure what the Fed has done, but I know that Governor has declared a state of emergency and things seem to be proceeding (water levels receding at least in the SW part of the state).
This is truly epic ~ a 100 yr sort of event.
We came together as a faculty (those who could make it in to school) and are currently forming outreach plans. We plan to open for students as-scheduled, but we have already started a number of "relief" sort of efforts. It feels good to be moving forward and part of an institution that's trying to act in such a responsible way. I'm sure this will be a memorable moment in the state's history. And I'm sure that whatever rebuilding will bring about a new norm; and not simply be a return to what was the norm prior to Sunday.

[Climb01742]

i've always loved riding in vermont. great terrain. beautiful scenery. nice folks. and the woodstock farmer's market made great sandwiches. best to all of you there in getting back to normal soon.

[VTCaraco]

I'm afraid that Woodstock Farmer's Market was hit particularly hard. As I understand it, it's not the first time it's been damaged by flood waters.
It'll be interesting to see to what extent and in what time frame it recovers.

[Bruce K]

We had a house in Quechee until I was in my late 20's. I loved/love that town and area. This is really sad.

Forum member LarryD is in Waitsfield and works at Mad River ski area. I sure would like to hear from him to know that he and his family are OK.

I just saw that he posted on Facebook earlier today with a link to the collapse of the base lodge at Killington ski area.

Just astonishing.

BK

[tele]

I just saw that he posted on Facebook earlier today with a link to the collapse of the base lodge at Killington ski area.

astonishing pics here: http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/specials/ski/blog/2011/08/irene_causes_ki.html

the damage to Rt7 is amazing, especially for such a traveled road.