The town of Stowe is looking for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as it cleans up after its third major flood event in the last year — and works to protect itself against future storms.
Last Sunday, rains flooded parts of Stowe's Gold Brook, overwhelming culverts and rendering some roads in the eastern part of town completely impassable.
Harry Shepard, director of public works for Stowe, said roads are back open, but his department is asking for patience as cleanup continues in the Stowe Hollow area. Work could take weeks to months.
“Absolutely, proceed with caution," Shepard said. "You know, there's a lot of areas where the road is back open but it’s got cones and barrels at the side, not guardrails. And nothing’s graded smooth."
Shepard said drivers can expect continued temporary road closures and delays on Gold Brook and North Hollow Roads next week between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Before this flooding event, his department was already looking into repairing some of the bridges and culverts in the area, in light of last year's floods.
"You know, we’re feeling exhausted," Shepard said. "Particularly this one kind of for me personally hit home hard. … It sometimes feels repetitive."
Shepard hopes funding from FEMA could help with both short-term repairs and longer-term flood mitigation work.
Stowe has been able to get support from FEMA for flood repairs in the past. But Shepard said those storms had more regional and statewide impacts, while this one was mostly localized to the area.
You can find road updates at townofstowevt.org/news
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