On Wednesday night, as swift-water crews carried out rescue missions in communities across Vermont, it looked like the people of Lyndonville would avoid the worst effects of the flood.
But less than 12 hours later, large portions of the Northeast Kingdom town were underwater.
The flood has inundated longtime local businesses and displaced low-income families. And many residents say it’s the worst natural disaster anyone can recall.
Vermont Public’s Peter Hirschfeld visited Lyndonville yesterday evening to visit with flood survivors. He joined Liam Elder-Connors live during Morning Edition to discuss what he saw. This interview was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript below, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Liam Elder-Connors: Can you describe when you arrived at Lyndonville yesterday? What did you see when you got there?
Peter Hirschfeld: So I spent the morning in Barre, so I didn't get to Lyndonville until about 5 p.m. And it was a strange contrast between those two areas because in Central Vermont, the water had already well receded by pretty early Thursday morning. And in Lyndonville, when I got there, there were still several feet of water on Route 5, which is the main thoroughfare through the downtown. I had to park my car, traveled by foot in order to get into town, and I ran into Lyndonville fire chief Jeff Corrow as I was walking around.
Jeff Corrow: The water just come up so fast and quick, it’s nothing I’ve ever seen in 34 years on being on the fire department. One minute the water would rise up a foot. Forty minutes later we’re up 4 feet, and it just kept coming. And the calls kept going in.
Peter Hirschfeld: One of the two flood-related deaths we've seen reported so far, happened in Lyndonville when a 73-year-old man's car was pulled into heavy currents.
Corrow told me that his department — with the aid of some other search and rescue crews — evacuated 54 people from flooded homes and cars. And as of last evening, there were 27 people displaced from their homes who were planning to shelter overnight at the fire department.
Liam Elder-Connors: Did you get any sense of whether people who had to be evacuated Thursday morning will eventually be able to return to their homes?
Peter Hirschfeld: Some of them are never going back to their homes. How many people are permanently displaced is unclear as of now. That's because damage assessments are still underway, obviously.
But Richard Hall in June Brill Hall are a married couple in their 70s. They live in a trailer park right next to the river that got absolutely pummeled on Thursday morning, and they told me their home is a total loss.
Richard Hall: We don’t know what’s going on in the next 24 hours.
June Brill Hall: My cat’s still in my trailer, I got to get her out. I got stuff that I can get out because it’s up high enough, otherwise I got to find a new place to live.
Richard Hall: I just got done doing that place over five years ago. I put about $20,000 into it. Now it’s gone. I put all new floors, redid the walls, put in new cabinets, new cupboards, new sinks.
June Brill Hall: The whole nine yards.
Richard Hall: New bathroom.
Peter Hirschfeld: And you feel like this is it?
June Brill Hall: This is it. there’s no more doing to it.
Richard Hall: It’s an old trailer.
June Brill Hall: It’s a 72 trailer, but it doesn’t look like a 72.
Richard Hall: But it’s our home. It was good for us.
Peter Hirschfeld: So you know, really rough stories coming out of Lyndonville, and a lot of uncertainty for folks like them.
Liam Elder-Connors: So what does the recovery plan look for the Halls, and other families in Lyndonville that won’t be able to return to their homes?
Peter Hirschfeld: I don't think anyone knows the answer to that question right now. The families whose homes got it the worst are the residents of that trailer park that June and Richard live in. And other people in Lyndonville who found the cheapest housing they could, which is often the same housing that's most prone to flooding. These are folks that don't have a lot of money, don't have a lot of personal financial resources they can draw on to rebound.
I ran into a guy named Bruce Appleby, whose trailer was literally underwater yesterday. It's the fifth time his unit has been flooded — though he said this latest one was definitely the worst. And he told me, you know, people in his situation, it's not like they choose housing that makes them live in fear of the next big rainstorm.
Bruce Appleby: I always wanted to buy a piece of land but I never could get a steady enough job to keep it and retire from it, and buy me a piece of land on the tallest mountain I could find and I wouldn’t have to worry about high water.
Peter Hirschfeld: Appleby doesn't have flood insurance, it's too expensive. The Halls don't have flood insurance, it's too expensive. And the lack of that and the lack of money really complicates long-term recovery for them.
FEMA may or may not be able to help out when and if this flood gets federally declared as a major disaster. State and local governments generally are not in the game of dispersing cash aid to flood survivors with significant unmet needs.
What we saw after last year's flood is that the fate of these folks who get hit the hardest by disasters can hinge on the wherewithal of local volunteer recovery groups. Those organizations are on the ground in communities across the state as we speak. They're assessing damage providing whatever relief they can, but it's unclear whether they're going to have the human and capital resources that they need to get people right.
Flood recovery resources
- For state road closure information, visit newengland511.org or follow @511VT on X. (For local road closures, use the Waze app or monitor town communications, such as a website or Facebook page.)
- You can sign up for alerts from the state at vtalert.gov.
- The latest forecasts and water levels for specific rivers are provided by the National Water Prediction Service.
- Find power outage information at vtoutages.org.
- To find more resources and services, and to report flood damage, call Vermont 2-1-1 or visit vermont211.org.
- For a list of state resources and guidance about flooding, visit vermont.gov/flood. The guidance includes returning home after a flood, cleaning up, and dealing with mold.
- Find flood recovery information in multiple languages at vem.vermont.gov/flood/translation.
- To request cleanup help from volunteers and groups, call the Crisis Cleanup hotline at 802-242-2054.
- For mental health support, call 9-8-8 or call or text the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990.
- To register through the state to volunteer, visit vermont.gov/volunteer.
- If flood waters reached your private well or spring, order a drinking water test kit through the Vermont Department of Health.
- Find flood-prone areas near you with the Vermont Flood Ready Atlas.
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