Roads decimated, homes washed away by catastrophic flooding in Vermont

Vermont, still sodden from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl three weeks ago, was soaked yet again on Tuesday as catastrophic flooding inundated the northeastern part of the state.

Between 6 and 8 inches of rain pummeled down starting Monday night, prompting warnings of “catastrophic flooding” as cascading water decimated roads, squashed vehicles and knocked entire homes off their foundations, washing them away.

There have been no deaths reported, though at least two dozen people had to be rescued by boat, said Vermont Emergency Management Agency spokesman Mark Bosma.

This round of thunderstorms and torrential downpour saturated the areas around Lyndon and Lyndonville, about 40 miles northeast of state capital Montpelier, as well as in the 6,000-population town of St. Johnsbury, where police urged residents to shelter in place.

The 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event dropped 7 inches of rain on St. Johnsbury in six hours, CNN reported, on top of 8 inches the town has already gotten.

St. Johnsbury resident Vanessa Allen said she had braced for rain, but not this much.

“This is devastating and was completely unexpected. I had no idea this was coming,” she told The Associated Press Tuesday afternoon, describing “huge craters” and rushing water that had trapped people in their homes.

“It looks apocalyptic,” she said. “It’s just all unbelievable how bad the roads are. We’re trapped. We can’t go anywhere.”

This was Vermont’s fourth flooding event in a year, including the devastating floods last summer that many residents are still recovering from.

But the deluge was not over, as the National Weather Service in Burlington issued a severe thunderstorm and flood warning for Wednesday in the northwestern part of the state, straddling the Vermont-New York border.

With News Wire Services