PLAINFIELD, Vermont, EE.UU.— Los remnants of hurricane Beryl caused Flooding in central Vermont that caused desperate evictions, destroyed bridges and leveled an apartment building, a year following the catastrophic rains flooded some of the same parts of the state. One person died.
Roads were flooded, washed away or covered in debris following heavy rains began on Wednesday and continued into Thursday. Rescues continued overnight, and some communities had been ordered to evacuate.
In Plainfield, residents of a six-unit apartment building had just 15 minutes to leave before the entire structure was swept away by floodwaters, which also washed away at least seven bridges and left several roads impassable and people stranded, the director of the department said. Emergency Management from the city, Michael BillingsleyA car was swept away by the water, but the occupant escaped, he said.
“We all realize the irony that the flooding is occurring on the first anniversary of the day that many towns were flooded last year. I know that adds to the emotions that many people are feeling this morning,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scottadding that “state resources and response agencies have been strengthened” in the wake of the tragedy a year ago.
The death occurred in the Peacham community, officials said.
The public safety commissioner Jennifer Morrison He called on the community to continue taking precautions and not go into the water, even when temperatures are rising and it is tempting to jump in.
“Regardless of river levels, our waterways are not safe at this time. The currents are strong and there is a large amount of debris in the water,” he said.
Hilary Conant, who escaped from her second-floor apartment in Plainfield, said she also had to flee rising waters last year.
“The water was rising, so I knew it was time to leave with my dog. It’s something that re-traumatizes me,” she said. A neighbor offered her a mobile home to stay in.
Art Edelstein was assessing the destruction around a home he had owned for 50 years and now rents Thursday morning.
“I don’t even know how much water came in or where it came from, because there’s just mud everywhere,” he said. “This is, from my point of view, catastrophic. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
In the small community of Moretown, the damage appears worse than it was a year ago, and the school was one of the buildings damaged once once more by floodwaters, said Tom Martin, president of the town council.
On Thursday, workers were hoping to install a temporary bridge on the main artery that provides access to the community, he said.
“They said we are strong in Vermont. We will get through this,” Martin said, his voice filled with emotion.
The deluge brought more than 6 inches of rain to parts of Vermont, with the heaviest rainfall occurring in areas that were badly damaged a year ago, said Marlon Verasamy of the National Weather Service in Burlington. But the damage was not as widespread across the state as it was last year, he said.
Flash flooding also prompted road closures in several northern New Hampshire communities, including Dalton, Lancaster and Littleton, where officials said 20 people were temporarily stranded at a Walmart and crews conducted water rescues.
Two tornadoes were confirmed Wednesday in western New York. Areas in the northern part of the state received 4 inches or more of rain, sending water rushing through streets in the town of Lowville.
Parts of upstate New York and New England, including Vermont, remained under flood watches or warnings Thursday morning. Beryl-related thunderstorms were forecast for much of the East Coast through Friday, the National Weather Service said. Emergency managers in Vermont on Thursday urged residents to seek higher ground if flooding approached, and said rescue crews and the National Guard were prepared.
Although Vermont is not a coastal state, it has experience with tropical weather. In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene dumped 11 inches of rain in 24 hours in parts of the state. The storm killed six people there, leveled several homes to their foundations, and damaged or destroyed more than 200 bridges and more than 500 miles of roads.
In May, Vermont became the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a portion of damages caused by extreme weather, driven by climate change.
Gov. Scott allowed the bill to pass without his signature, saying he was concerned regarding the costs of a grueling legal battle. But he acknowledged that he understands that something must be done to address the cost of climate change.
Beryl made landfall in Texas on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, knocking out power to millions in the Houston area. It then made its way into the U.S. interior as a post-tropical cyclone that caused flooding and a few tornadoes from the Great Lakes to Canada and northern New England.
Beryl is blamed for at least seven deaths in the United States — one in Louisiana and six in Texas — and at least 11 in the Caribbean. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses remained without power Thursday morning, down from a peak of more than 2.7 million on Monday, according to PowerOutage.us.
The storm has caused at least $3.3 billion in damage across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean, according to Karen Clark & Co., a Boston-based firm that works with insurance companies to estimate the costs of disasters.
The company on Thursday gave a quick estimate of $2.7 billion in privately insured losses, along with $510 million in the Caribbean and $90 million in Mexico. The estimate is only for insured properties and does not include homes covered by the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, so total losses will be higher.
____Associated Press writers David Sharp in Maine, Holly Ramer in New Hampshire and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.
You may also like: “Beryl leaves millions without electricity, floods and heat wave in Texas (VIDEO)”
Related
#Beryl #remnants #disaster #Vermont #USA
2024-07-20 15:11:54
