Officials in two Vermont towns hit by ice-jam flooding last month are preparing for another round of rising water levels over the next few days.
Both Swanton and Johnson, Vermont were impacted by flooding when temperatures rose and fell dramatically in mid-January, and now the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for all of central and northern Vermont and parts of northern New York through Wednesday evening.
In Swanton, the local emergency management department is advising residents near the Missisquoi River who were impacted by flooding in January to once again leave their homes. They're asked to evacuate by nightfall Tuesday. The river is expected to rise above flood stage around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to the Swanton's police chief.
In Johnson, the selectboard approved spending late last week to hire excavators to remove ice from the Lamoille River ahead of this week's warm up. Now the town is offering sandbags to residents to combat expected flooding.
