(NECN: Jack Thurston, Barre, Vt.) - The holiday weekend brought little rest to road crews in Central Vermont, as they spent Saturday fixing washed-out roads. More heavy rain lashed Vermont late Friday and into Saturday, but the state was spared the kind of flash floods that struck Thursday. "It's devastating," sighed Bob Saldi of the Central Vermont Italian American Club.
At the club headquarters in Barre, Vt., workers were moving mud from the parking lot and ripping up carpet in the basement. Flood waters came up through the toilets and swamped the downstairs. "The water's one thing, but this is what's left-- the silt and mud and stuff," Saldi said, pointing to the mounds of mud left when the floodwaters receded.
A brook was still raging Saturday morning alongside Walker Volkswagen & Mazda in Barre. When it jumped its banks Thursday, water wiped out the dealership's packed-stone rear parking lot and soaked some used cars the dealers are now trying to dry out. They're grateful Vermont dodged the tornadoes that struck Joplin, Missouri. "It could have been a lot worse," Walker employee Tyler Griffiths said. "There's a lot of people in other parts of the U.S. that saw it a lot worse than we did. While it may look bad here, it's much worse other places."
The federal building in downtown Montpelier is bracing for more possible flooding with sandbags. The problem in much of Vermont is that the ground is saturated after so much rain, so the water has no place to go but up.
But the Capital City Farmer's Market in Montpelier trudged on. When its normal location suffered from standing water and mud, the market moved to higher ground and the crowds followed. "We're in high spirits," said vendor Randy George of the Red Hen Baking Co. "It's nice. Montpelier needs some high spirits these days!"
Vermonters just want steady sunshine so they can clean up and start enjoying summer.
