Our community was spared the devastation of this week’s flooding while so many communities were not. We are thankful we were spared, and we are grateful for the dedication of our local officials who spent Sunday through Tuesday monitoring, planning, and preparing for the worst. Our firefighters and emergency management directors are excellent and we’re fortunate to have them.
It’s hard not to hurt for our friends and neighbors in Waterbury. And for our friends and neighbors in Montpelier and Barre. The pictures from southern Vermont are devasting. Our hearts are breaking at the plight of those small villages underwater. Our hearts are breaking for every one of our fellow Vermonters impacted by this storm.
The Wrightsville Dam coming within inches of its capacity and facing the need to potentially release water along the Route 12 corridor into Montpelier on Tuesday morning was harrowing.
When Tropical Storm Irene tore across Vermont on August 28, 2011, it dropped 7 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. It impacted almost every single town and village in Vermont. Collectively, we were traumatized by the destruction and damage to our own communities but also by the extent of the damage to the entire state.
It is impossible to go through what we have this week and not be traumatized for all those around us who are impacted. We all know exactly what it feels like. We all carry a deep and profound understanding of what flooding means.
So, we will do what we did in 2011 -- we’ll help each other. We’ll provide funds, elbow grease, hugs, and supplies commensurate with those that we (and all of Vermont) received from each other and those outside our state in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. That made all the difference then and it will now too.
We’re grateful no lives were lost here, and we know the road to recovery is long.
Thanks to all friends and family who reached out from near and far, and all the former Valley residents who reached out to find out how we fared. Thanks also to all the citizen journalists who shared photos and videos with us so that we could help people understand what was going on.
