Vermont Flooding

You probably all saw it on theTV last evening.
Vermont got 5-8 inches of rain and intense flooding.

Not as bad as the Carolinas, but wicked bad for us.

We have been in a drought situation all summer and the rain came down so fast that the moisture did NOT have a chance to seep into the ground where it is needed.  The water just ran off the ground and caused all kinds of chaos.

The Connecticut River, that separates Vermont and New Hampshire ( look at a map ) looks like a raging ocean today and has flooded and eaten up thousands of acres of corn fields that were waiting to be made into silage for the many herds of dairy cattle on both sides of the river.

Yesterday morning I headed out to work in the pouring rain and as I turned the first little bend in my road, the road was GONE.  Just a cliff with a 70 foot drop remained.   

My road, which is on a steep hill, washed out and slid down the hill and crashed into a house on Water Street, knocking the house, at the bottom of the hill, off its foundation and making the chimneys crash through the roof.  3 dozen big pine trees slid with the mud and water and must of scared the tenants in the middle of the night.   The electricity went out all over town when the huge landslide hit the telephone poles on Water Street.

Also had a heck of a trip home last night from work.  My 40 mile route home winds along 3 rivers and the water was splashing out onto the roads at 6 pm.  Road crews were sandbagging and dumping gravel to protect roadways.  They all looked exhausted from their 14 straight hours working like crazy to beat Mother Nature.

All the rivers had thick white froth on them from the force of the water being propelled over the dams, stone walls and vehicles that had been sucked into its wake.  Small streams were now wide rivers.

My fear was that my cows might be in a perilous situation as the pond above their fields was the cause of the washout of the road.

I drove to their location and saw the farmer jogging along the road checking fences that had been washed away by the engourged river that just 2 days ago was a tiny stream.  My cows were fine. They were drinking the water that puddled on their fields and they continued to graze near the flock of ducks that were swiming in the field and the turkeys that were eating all the bugs, worms and other assorted snacks that floated by.  72 wild turkeys were with the cows for most of the day, from what I have been told.

When I finally reached home I found the cellar was flooded with 4 feet of water  and of course the furnace was under that water.
The neighbor stopped by, with higher rubber boots than mine, and ventured into the cellar.  He said he saw trout and a shark, it was so deep.  This man is on the state road crew so he told me all about the many water incidents on our side of the state:     One of the largest beaver dams on top of a mountain broke loose and flooded most of Rt 5.     Fences had to be cut and cows herded to dry ground.   Remember the pretty photo of the round barn that was posted here about 3 weeks ago?  The entire front and rear field is under water.  The road is closed for 6 miles.

This morning more roads are closed, the Connecticut River is higher, wider and madder and detours are so numerous that my GPS almost had a nervous breakdown yelling "Recalculating" every 15 seconds!

I saw some dairy cows in precarious positions this morning as the waters rose.
They were in fields surrounded by water.  Still grazing, oblivious to what could happen.

I have volunteered my services and disaster equipment to the local Fire Department should livestock need to be removed or domestic pets need crates or a dry place to stay for a short term.

The Vermont Red Cross assisted the family in the house that was torn off its foundation. They paid for a motel for them for 3 days.   I wonder what will happen to them after tomorrow. They were only renting that house. After the family was extracted from the house, the fire department sucessfully "rescued" the antique Harley Davidson motorcycle that was "trapped" in the garage after the landslide.  Thats the news from here.    Stay safe,    Janis