Vermont's Damage from Irene

[aa1pr]

I can honestly admit, that under these circumstances no matter how much preparation or planning you have doen. The force of nature will undue al you did.

vehicles, boats and 4x4 ATV's were useless against the power of water.

it will be a while before we are back up & running, check out these photos

http://www.mansfieldheliflight.com/flood/

I feel this is another good point for not having caches of gear stored, like I have seen mentioned so many times before on this forum

[Mister Dark]

Stunning pictures. One thing that comes to mind: how long before the snows start? A lot of towns are almost wiped out - will these folks be able to get ready for the cold weather in time?

Talk about a double whammy...

[Darxus]

Wow, great photos. Just a few I took when I was in Bethel Vermont helping clean up Friday and Saturday: http://www.chaosreigns.com/gallery/index/201109.html

[Impus]

Wow. I sat this one out on the family farm in New Haven, about 8 miles North of Middlebury. Saw nothing like these photos. Route 100 is/was? one of my favorite scenic drives/motorcycle runs... Route 4 is/was? also a beautiful drive I've taken many times. Crossed the Crown Point ferry while it was still raining...

[raptor]

These are horrendous pictures.

It is amazing what 12 to 18 inches of water in 24 hours can do. As I have said many times when it comes to flooding your elevation above MSL is not as important as your elevation in regards to the nearest body of water.

I assume most Vermonters do not have flood insurance?

[connecticut_yankee]

These are horrendous pictures.

It is amazing what 12 to 18 inches of water in 24 hours can do. As I have said many times when it comes to flooding your elevation above MSL is not as important as your elevation in regards to the nearest body of water.

I assume most Vermonters do not have flood insurance?

Most people in non-flood risk areas don't have flood insurance and homeowner's doesn't usually cover it.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=57226

[yale]

I can honestly admit, that under these circumstances no matter how much preparation or planning you have doen. The force of nature will undue al you did.

vehicles, boats and 4x4 ATV's were useless against the power of water.

it will be a while before we are back up & running, check out these photos

http://www.mansfieldheliflight.com/flood/

I feel this is another good point for not having caches of gear stored, like I have seen mentioned so many times before on this forum

WOW. Great photos. Thanks for posting that link. The last photo is of a bridge I've been watching on the internet for some time. "The new Ticonderoga bridge with Lake Champlain in the background." I''m a fan of the internet fan series Star Trek: Phase 2 which is filmed near that area and they have been posting in a thread on their webfourm about it's construction. So I've seen that bridge going up for the past year. Then this storm happened and the discussions started about flooding and possible damages near their studios. They talked about boats at the docks being washed away and the docks being distroyed, etc.. These photos really show the magnitude of the damage some areas suffered. I've never been to the area but through social networking sites and forums like the Star Trek site I feel a certain connection.
I dsagree with the idea of preperations being useless and undone by nature. IF your palce managed to stay out of the water the food and other supplies might be your way of surviving until you can get out of town. Right after the storm passed I heard reports of whloe towns cut off and the National Guard dropping supplies by helicopter. Everything from bottled water to diapers and baby formula. I was thinking....IT's only been a couple of days and they already need formula and diapers? They didn't even have a 3 day supply of that stuff? Now I understand that some people may have lost their supply of diapers and formula to flooding but the whole town? Really. Amazing. Either they were very unprepared with little to no 3-5 day supplies or all of those supplies were all lost in the flood. Either way it is tragic. I keep the people in those areas in my thoughts and wish them the best.

[Clout]

I am from the Granite State and made the trip out to VT for work early last week. I will tell you, the people in Waterbury are some of the most resilient, heartfelt people I've ever met. After spending the day in town, it really showed that small town feeling we all live in New England for. No one had the "woe is me" attitude and everyone seemed to think of their neighbor first.

The scary thing was, you could drive 5 miles without seeing any sign of Irene. Then you round a bend, and it looked like hell broke loose all over again.

[TacAir]

I thought it interesting that a 'major media' outlet chose to run a story about how utility crews had to have armed police protection as they worked to restore power.

Seems (at least in the TeeVee story) that the crews had their lives threatened by customers who were pissed the power wasn't back on the next day....

Was the TeeVee story slandering the Granite Staters? Or has everyone, even in small town Vt become a "I want it NOW" whiner?

[Ableto]

I thought it interesting that a 'major media' outlet chose to run a story about how utility crews had to have armed police protection as they worked to restore power.

Seems (at least in the TeeVee story) that the crews had their lives threatened by customers who were pissed the power wasn't back on the next day....

Was the TeeVee story slandering the Granite Staters? Or has everyone, even in small town Vt become a "I want it NOW" whiner?

Kind of funny how some ppl just dont understand that most power has to come back in a certain order or it dont work. As in the power lines or substations have to be looked at from a where is the problem at perspective. As in if a big area is out of power, the crews have to find where it got cut off and repair the lines or substation, once its fixed they move to the next thing that can be a problem on the list. Going to a area and fixing lines that are not part main power problem is not going to help.

So ya some ppl need to understand that it takes time and depending on the damage, will depend on when power comes back.

[blackbilly]

Wow, great photos. Just a few I took when I was in Bethel Vermont helping clean up Friday and Saturday: http://www.chaosreigns.com/gallery/index/201109.html

Friend of mine who was a former trooper lived right on that road. Damn shame. I used to vacation up there and always had a good time. Hard to believe the destruction. Mother nature is a bitch.

[Dlongmuir]

Like Mister Dark said......whats gonna happen when the snow starts coming and it looks like we are getting a lot of snow this year. hopefully vermont will get through all of this because it is one of my favorite states to go visit.

[andygates]

Destruction aside... wow, Vermont is pretty.

[bluesquid]

Destruction aside... wow, Vermont is pretty.

Vermont is very pretty. Living in the ADK's of Ny, Vermont is always right there for trips. Its a very scenic and pleasant 2 hour ride to Burlington from my area. That includes the Grand Isle Ferry across Lake Champlain. Burlington is always a lot of fun.

Everyone is aware of the fact that every individual state has its own style and character, and Vermont is no different. Vermont is a very rare place. I dont mean to sound condescending, truly not my intention. Vermonters are simple, hard working, intelligent people. Vermont almost seems more like Canada or a European country than a US state. Hard to explain unless you spend some time there.

My whole point is, If there is one place that can handle this kind of catastrophe, its Vermont. They will bounce back fast, and with all the improvements necessary to minimize this kind of damage in the future.

[Belair56]

Right after the storm my-inlaws called me from The Hunter mt/Jewett NY area, Even though I went through the Ice Storm in 1998, They didnt think they'd lose power for more than a few hours, Needless to say they lost power for 5 days, The area will take years to get back to the way it was. Hopefully they will be more prepared next time, even though they werent flooded out the loss of power, and no water made for a difficult time, Prayers are with those folks who have no place to live at this time.

[Belair56]

Right after the storm my-inlaws called me from The Hunter mt/Jewett NY area, Even though I went through the Ice Storm in 1998, They didnt think they'd lose power for more than a few hours, Needless to say they lost power for 5 days, The area will take years to get back to the way it was. Hopefully they will be more prepared next time, even though they werent flooded out the loss of power, and no water made for a difficult time, Prayers are with those folks who have no place to live at this time.