Vermont man evacuates neighbors during flooding, weeks after witnessing a driver get swept away
LYNDON, Vermont — Weeks after Jason Pilbin saw a driver swept away by floodwaters, his northeastern Vermont community was hit again by flooding Tuesday from heavy rainfall.
Pilbin went outside around 2:30 a.m. with a flashlight and headlamp to help some neighbors evacuate, then retrieved their essential medications about 20 minutes before their home split in two. He then woke up another neighbor to help her get out of her home.
Almost three weeks ago, He watched helplessly as a man drowned after he was caught driving through floodwaters from Hurricane Beryl. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t save him, but I could save these people,” Pilbin said. “I think that makes up for a lot. It was tough.”
Thunderstorms and torrential rains brought another wave of severe flooding early Tuesday morning that collapsed and washed away roads, crushed vehicles, knocked homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in northeastern Vermont. Some areas received 6 to more than 8 inches (15 to more than 20 centimeters) of rain.
More rain is expected in central and northern Vermont on Wednesday, with the potential for flash flooding.
Mark Bosma, a spokesman for the Vermont Emergency Management Agency, said swiftwater rescue crews in boats made about two dozen rescues in the dark late Monday and early Tuesday in the hardest-hit areas. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or deaths from this round of flooding.
The Lyndonville Fire Department staffed the station with its rescue team around 2:30 a.m. and began rescue efforts around 3 a.m., Fire Chief Jeff Carrow said.
The new flood produced similar catastrophes to the flooding weeks earlier, which killed two people, but on a smaller scale. Cars and trucks were smashed and covered in mud, several houses were destroyed and pushed downstream, electricity poles and power lines were blown down, and asphalt roads were turned into cliffs where roadbeds had been cut away.
Police issued a “shelter in place” advisory Tuesday morning for St. Johnsbury, a city of about 6,000. At least 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain fell farther north in the Morgan area, which is near the Canadian border.
Vanessa Allen of St. Johnsbury said she knew there was a chance of rain, but she didn’t expect it to rain this much.
“This is devastating and completely unexpected,” she said. “I had no idea this was coming.”
Her house was between two washed-out roads, so she couldn’t get out. The roads were covered in pockmarks and debris. Nearby, she said, a house had fallen off its foundation and was blocking a road.
“It looks apocalyptic,” she said. “We’re stuck. We can’t go anywhere.”
The state has experienced major flooding earlier in July from the end of Hurricane Beryl. The flooding destroyed roads and bridges and inundated farms. It came exactly one year after a previous match from severe flooding that hit Vermont and several other states.
Vermont has experienced four floods in the past year, due to a combination of climate change and the state’s mountainous geography, said Peter Banacos, science and operations officer for the weather service. More rainfall has made the state and its steep terrain more susceptible to flooding, he said.
According to Bancos, the state’s soil is also more often saturated, increasing the risk of flooding.
Vermont’s history of heavily manipulating its rivers and streams also plays a role in the increased flooding, said Julie Moore, secretary of the state’s natural resources agency. Increased flooding is “a reflection of the fact that we’ve reached our limits in terms of really being able to manage rivers and keep them in place,” she continued.
Roads, bridges, culverts and wastewater facilities are all particularly vulnerable, Moore said. The state is engaged in a decades-long effort to “replace or renovate them with our current and future climate in mind,” Moore said.
Vermont is also working on establishing a statewide flood plain standards.
“The last storm was a wake-up call,” Deryck Colburn said of the flooding earlier this month. “I thought I’d never see anything like this again. I don’t think this comes close to this. Not even close.”
“There are a lot of broken hearts,” he added.
__
Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Reporters Patrick Whittle in Maine and Julie Walker in New York also contributed to this story.