Cleanup Underway Following Storm Damage in Vt.

Richmond, Vermont spent Wednesday cleaning up and drying out from heavy rainfall Tuesday that spawned flash flooding.

Standing water remained on Cochran Road, and part of the road fell away Tuesday evening.

"We estimate almost three inches of rain in an hour between 4:30 and 6:00 last night," said Peter Gosselin, Richmond's road foreman. "It just took everything out."

Gosselin was also dealing with several big washouts on Dugway Road and Wes White Hill Road.

"It seems to be the new norm," he said. "The past four, five years, it's been major storms. Unfortunately, I think it's something we're all going to have to be dealing with."

Dugway Road and Wes White Hill Road are only open to the people who live along the road, Gosselin said. But the town hopes to get those roads back open to through traffic soon.

Chrisanne Spence said she had to stay home from work Wednesday. She's a para-educator in Richmond, but the middle and elementary schools were shut because the flooding damaged the village's drinking water system.

"We were supposed to have field days at the school today," Spence sighed. "The kids are not happy."

The Vermont Department of Health warned Wednesday of the dangers of swimming or boating in swollen waters, because of their fast currents.

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