henri

Flood-Weary Vermont Town Sees More Rain as Henri Moves Out

Windham County was Vermont's only county that remained under a flood watch Monday

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The flood watch in effect for southeastern Vermont’s Windham County Monday covered many of the same people hit hard by damaging flash floods in late July.

Rain from Henri, the former hurricane and tropical storm, fell throughout much of Monday afternoon in Putney, heavily at times. Putney is located in Windham County — the only county in Vermont where a flood watch from the former hurricane was still in place Monday.

“If we don’t get any more rain for the rest of the summer, I’d be pleased,” said Putney’s town manager, Karen Astley.

Astley said she has been glued to the forecast lately, because her community was just lashed with fierce rain and destructive flash floods on July 29.

In Vermont, some communities are cleaning up after a storm caused major damage.

Part of River Road South in Putney is still impassable, and other spots have only temporary fixes, Astley noted, so there were concerns about what another deluge could do.

“I’ve been very nervous about any storm at this point, because the ground is so saturated and we still have roads that need repair,” the town manager told NECN.

Ahead of Henri, town officials had multi-faceted plans in place, and were even ready to stand up shelters in case evacuations were needed, Astley said. She added that she sensed last month’s damage left community members with a heightened vigilance this time around, which had them checking trusted sources of weather and emergency information as they prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.

“Thank God this didn’t come our way,” Shane Shippee, a customer at Bert’s Chuck Wagon in Putney, said of the most ferocious wind and rain from Henri.

Thousands of people are waking up without power and cleaning up from the damage left behind by Tropical Storm Henri.

Shippee and other customers were able to take shelter under Bert’s tents as a heavy band of rain moved through during lunchtime Monday.

“The Chuck Wagon stays busy even if it is raining, because that’s when the roofers aren’t roofing and the cement guys aren’t pouring cement,” noted Bert Wilkins, the food truck’s operator. “So I’m busy whether it rains or not.”

Vermont Emergency Management encouraged folks to check out its online resources that can help families and individuals with their own disaster preparedness, including information on staying safe in floods. 

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