Cassandra
Alerts of road closures throughout central Vermont continued to come in by 9:15 a.m., Thursday, July 11, after a night of flooding in the area. Montpelier’s downtown was spared, but part of north Elm Street was closed this morning due to flood waters (and has since reopened). Barre City, Moretown, Marshfield, Plainfield, Middlesex, and many surrounding towns were hit hard with floodwaters through the night of July 10 and 11, exactly a year to the day from the devastating 2023 flood. Barre City Mayor Thom Lauzon declared a state of emergency, and about a dozen people were rescued from flood waters according to reports in VTDigger.
Emergency shelters have been set up at the Barre Auditorium at 16 Auditorium Hill and the Williamstown Middle/High School at 120 Hebert Road.
A July 10 release from the city of Monptelier stated that “Good Samaritan Haven has mobilized a pop-up emergency shelter at 203 Country Club Road. City staff have assisted in shuttling community members to the shelter, which is now at capacity,” and they noted that the Good Samaritan street outreach team “has reached out to vulnerable unhoused individuals and is keeping them abreast of updates as they happen.”
An update from the Vermont Department of Public Safety at 8:59 a.m. July 11 reported that “Damage from Wednesday’s flash floods is extensive, with significant damage in central Vermont and counties east and west. Damage assessments have begun and will likely take some time. Many rivers are still at flood stage and will be until later Thursday, so everyone should remain vigilant and stay away from floodwaters.”
The report also notes that Vermont’s Urban Search and Rescue teams and the Vermont National Guard, as well as swift water rescue “assets” from out of state, are in communities helping with rescues and evacuations.
The release also urges people to stay off closed roads and to not attempt to drive or walk through flooded areas. Vermont Emergency Management also notes that “Rivers and streams are running high and fast, with debris running through them. For the foreseeable future, they will be unsafe for swimming and other recreation.
Barre
Barre Up has been on the ground providing flood recovery. The organization was created last year after the July 2023 flood. The community-led long-term recovery organization is “coordinating supplies, food, and water while waiting for communication from local and state officials,” according to a release it sent out this morning.
“Barre Up has boots on the ground and will be responding to immediate needs of residents as soon as they come in,” said Shawna Trader, a spokesperson for the group. This week, Trader was interviewed on Vermont Public about her role in flood recovery in Barre in 2023.
Barre Up’s release goes on to say that Trader and others from Barre Up will be distributing disaster preparedness and recovery supplies — water pumps, sump pumps, hoses, and fuel — out of City Hall Park in the coming hours. They are also organizing food and water to be distributed from the Rainbow Bridge Community Center at 81 North Main Street.
Residents in need of support, or volunteers looking to help, can reach Barre Up at 802-277-2635 or info@barreup.org, and follow its Facebook and newsletter for updates.
The city of Barre posted on its Facebook page “The storm left some mud and debris on our streets. Please take note of the following announcements regarding recovery:
- There will be NO PARKING on Thursday 7/11 on Main Street between Elm Street and Maple Avenue. This is necessary so DPW can clean and remove mud and debris.
- There will be intermittent closures on Main Street while DPW crews work during the day.
- Please respect barricades and instructions from city officials. In case you are wondering, yes, that barricade is meant for you, too.
According to VT-Alerts, Vermont 110 in Barre from U.S. 302 at the roundabout to Old Route 302 is closed due to high water and washouts, and U.S. 302 in East Barre near Messier Drive is closed due to flooding.
Montpelier
“Everything is OK, but there are some surrounding parts of Montpelier, Finch Road and Northern Elm Street took a pretty good hit,” said Mary Smith, assistant to the city manager in Montpelier.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had forecast the Winooski River would crest at 17 feet by 2 a.m. on Thursday, July 11. But, “a little after midnight, they downgraded” the forecast. The river crested at 14.45 feet in Montpelier, according to NOAA, about six inches from where it starts to flood.
“Our DPW crews were really helpful with the Bailey Avenue Bridge,” Smith said. “They were clearing debris all night with excavators (on top of the bridge),” she said. “It could have flooded over on Bailey for sure if it had continued to back up and we didn’t intervene.”
From 8:30 p.m. until past midnight, volunteers flocked to downtown Montpelier to sandbag storefronts. Chris Pyatak happened to be in town when he heard the news of the river rising. He walked to the fire station from Langdon Street looking for sand bags and “happened upon a larger group of volunteers,” he said. “I jumped in.” The group “sandbagged” Langdon Street, he said.
Cheryl Ecklund and her family came around 8:30 p.m., she said, when they heard about possible flooding. They found a city Department of Public Works staff member and were able to get bags of sand. Her family and the Sheehan family started distributing the sandbags at businesses through town.
As they worked, “people just showed up and just started working,” Ecklund said.
The next morning, July 11, Ecklund emailed The Bridge to say “the Montpelier city road crew did so much to help with flooding abatement last night too. They patrolled, cleared culverts, drains, and were also up into the wee morning hours (3 a.m. — past 6 a.m.!) clearing debris from the Winooski from the bridge near the high school. Both our chief of police and chief of fire dept were also there to help. And those two were instrumental in getting us sandbags!”
Ecklund said Montpelier Parks Director Alec Ellsworth showed volunteers how to bag sand so they could distribute more bags until 2 a.m.
“Kip from Onion River Outdoors picked up and brought us sandbags from a city road crew site … and about 25 to 30 townspeople randomly assembled … Montpelier High School students Jasper Ecklund and Owen Sheehan and Main Street Middle School student Andy Sheehan sandbagged for over 4 hours.
Helpers also moved product and merchandise including huge coolers up higher in both Positive Pie and Rebel Heart. The effort in downtown Montpelier was truly a community one.”
Central Vermont
An update from the Vermont Department of Public Safety at 8:59 a.m. July 11 reported that “Damage from Wednesday’s flash floods is extensive, with significant damage in central Vermont and counties east and west. Damage assessments have begun and will likely take some time. Many rivers are still at flood stage and will be until later Thursday, so everyone should remain vigilant and stay away from floodwaters.”
The report also notes that Vermont’s Urban Search and Rescue teams and the Vermont National Guard, as well as swiftwater rescue “assets” from out of state are in communities helping with rescues and evacuations.
The release also urges people to stay off closed roads, and to not attempt to drive or walk through flooded areas. Vermont Emergency Management also notes that “Rivers and streams are running high and fast, with debris running through them. For the foreseeable future, they will be unsafe for swimming and other recreation.
To find out what roads are closed, go to newengland511.org.
Sign up for emergency alerts at www.vtalert.gov) for up-to-date weather forecasts and alerts.
The National Guard announced in an email around 3 p.m. that “a total of approximately 15 soldiers from the Garrison Support Command’s National Guard Reaction Force
will stage high water vehicles to support Vermont Urban Search and Rescue Teams ahead of the storm in areas of likely impact.”
Road Closures
Calais – Around 11:30 a.m. on July 11, VT-Alert reported that in Calais the following roads are closed: Haggett Road between Center and Martin (village of Adamant), Bliss Pond (near Fowler/Old West Church junction), Pekin Brook, Elmslie, Robinson Hill south of class 4 portion and Woodbury Mountain. Closed-Local traffic only (use extreme caution) on Martin, Collar Hill and Dugar Brook. Please contact 802-456-8720 for more information.
Marshfield – Vermont Route 232 in Marshfield/Groton Forest Road is closed at the intersection with U.S. 2. U.S. 2 is closed from Pike Road to Creamery Street due to multiple washouts.
Middlesex – U.S. Route 2 in Middlesex is closed just west of the State Highway Garage, approximately one mile west of interstate 89 Exit 9, due to high water and washouts.
Moretown Village has evacuated the village and moved residents to higher ground and Vermont 100B in Moretown is closed at Stevens Brook Road due to a complete washout of the roadway.
Plainfield – U.S. Route 2 from Hollister Hill Road to Eaton Cemetery Road in Plainfield is closed due to flooding.
Waterbury – Main Street near the roundabout and Town Hall is closed for the day along with Randall and Elm streets; U.S. 2 and Vermont 100 is closed due to high water under the railroad bridge and water over the road at the roundabout (from July 11, 2 a.m.); Shaw Mansion Road is closed at the dip; Gregg Hill Road is closed near the intersection with Route 100 and “there are many washouts near Waterbury Center. Contact 802-244-4300 for more information.
Woodbury – Vermont Route 14 in Woodbury is closed just south of the Woodbury/Hardwick town line (at house #6673) due to trees down involving wires. Seek alternate route.
