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Heavy rains that flooded the northeast turned roads into rivers, forced evacuations and prompted officials in Vermont's capital, Montpelier, to shut down the downtown area.
“Make no mistake, the devastation and flooding we're experiencing in Vermont is historic and devastating,” Gov. Phil Scott told reporters Tuesday.
Flooding in some areas “exceeded levels seen during Tropical Storm Irene,” the governor said. Irene hit the United States as a hurricane in August 2011 and left entire communities submerged, killing more than 40 people in many eastern states.
The current flooding has claimed thousands of homes and businesses, Scott added.
In downtown Montpellier, authorities issued a travel ban that lasted until Tuesday afternoon. A boil alert remains in effect for the city, after warning officials the “extreme flood” could contaminate the drinking water supply.
City and surrounding communities saw 'record flooding' in two days, Montpellier officials he said Tuesday afternoon. The downtown area remains flooded and is not safe for public transportation, they added.
The city was hit by a record 5.28 inches of rain Monday, the National Weather Service in Burlington said. That's more than any other day on record, including 5.27 inches of rain in the state capital on August 28, 2011.
“Irene had about 12 hours of rain and then it was over,” the governor said. “This is different. We have had about 48 hours of steady rain,” he said, adding that more rain is expected in the coming days.
Vermont remains under a state of emergency, with water in downtown Montpelier running knee-deep to waist-deep Tuesday, trapping residents in their homes and closing roads and businesses. Flooding has forced evacuations and more than 100 rescues in the state, Urban Search and Rescue Director Mike Cannon told CNN.
“In many areas, water conditions remain too dangerous for boat rescue,” Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said Tuesday.
“There are life-threatening isolates that we are trying to identify and rescue,” Morrison added.
President Joe Biden spoke with Scott and other officials about the flooding, the White House said Tuesday, adding that it was coordinating with state and local officials and monitoring the effects of the flooding.
New Hampshire will quickly dispatch rescue boat crews and Black Hawk helicopters to help respond to flooding in Vermont, Gov. Chris Sununu said. Crews from Connecticut, Massachusetts and North Carolina are currently in Vermont to provide assistance and more are on the way, the Vermont Department of Public Safety said.
In Montpelier, the police department moved dispatch, police and fire operations due to severe flooding in the basement of City Hall and the fire and police departments, Police Chief Eric Nordenson said Tuesday.
Authorities were also monitoring the Wrightsville Dam in Montpelier late Tuesday after water levels earlier in the day reached the dam's spillway.
In update at 8:30 p.m. Montpellier officials said the dam's water level had begun to recede and was not expected to breach the spillway. On Wednesday, crews will begin clearing mud and debris from city streets, begin downtown building inspections and begin cleanup efforts, officials said.
Brandon Clement/LSM
Flood waters surround buildings in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, on Tuesday.
Flood warnings that affected more than 2 million people in parts of New England and Oklahoma ended Tuesday, but flood warnings remain in place in both areas.
The bodies of two children were pulled from Lake Overholser, a reservoir in Oklahoma City, after authorities said they were swept away Monday night by strong currents following heavy rains in the city over the weekend.
The children, who authorities said were 10 and 11 years old, were among a group of four fishing in the area and entered the water.
“Strong water currents pulled two boys underwater while the other two made it to safety on a concrete ledge,” said Oklahoma City Fire Chief John Chenoweth.
As the rain eases in Vermont, Scott cautioned against a false sense of complacency. “The water has to go somewhere, the reservoirs are filling up and we have to determine the next phase, the next wave,” he said.
Courtesy R. McDonough/Phoenix Vol. Fire Co.
Drone video taken in Londonderry, Vermont on Monday shows the extent of the flooding.
Betsy Hart called 911 when floodwaters suddenly began rising rapidly in the basement of her Chester property in Windsor County.
“The water was rising quickly after being very calm most of the morning,” Hart told CNN's Miguel Marquez. “Suddenly, he was inside the house.”
Hart said she has never experienced flooding like what she saw Monday. “It was too close for comfort,” he said.
“With Hurricane Irene, the water raged like this, but it never reached the house,” she said, standing on a street near her home as the water rushed nearby.
Numerous rivers in Vermont rose amid the rainfall, with some swelling higher than levels reached during Hurricane Irene. The Winooski River in Montpelier rose nearly 14 feet Monday and passed major flood stage as water continued to rise, threatening further flooding.
Ball Mountain Dam and Townshend Dam, in southwestern Vermont, were expected to overflow their spillways,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warned Monday night. Warning of “severe flooding,” the agency urged residents to get inside threatened lowlands of neighboring Vermont and New Hampshire communities to evacuate.
Seth Harrison/The Journal News/USA Today Network
The aftermath of flooding is seen on Main Street in Highland Falls, New York on Monday.
Seven-day rainfall totals across much of the Northeast were already at 300 percent to 500 percent of normal levels, the Weather Prediction Center said Monday.
Widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches fell in the Northeast from eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey into Vermont and New Hampshire. Isolated rainfalls higher than 6 inches have been observed in several states.
In New York, a 35-year-old woman died after being swept away by floodwaters while trying to evacuate her home in Orange County on Sunday. The flooding has caused “easily tens of millions of dollars in damage,” County Executive Steve Neuhaus said Monday.
Some areas in New York were hit with more than 8 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
In the northern part of the state, a state of emergency was declared for the city of Long Lake due to severe flooding that damaged roads and bridges, downed power lines and forced some residents to evacuate, Long Lake City Supervisor Clay Arsenault said. a statement. It's an emergency situation in force for Hamilton County until Wednesday morning.
Long Lake officials he also said Non-essential travel is not allowed in the city at this time.
Hassan Jamali/AP
A man carries items through flooding from a home in Bridgewater, Vermont on Monday.
In Vermont, state Rep. Kelly Pajala said she woke up Monday morning to flooding already on the front step of her Londonderry apartment. She and her son packed up their two cats and evacuated to higher ground.
“For people who were here during Irene, it feels like a very similar experience,” he said. Hurricane Irene brought devastating floods for the state in 2011, causing extensive damage to infrastructure.
Flood waters gushed between homes in Chester, where some structures were visibly damaged and lorries were up to their wheels.
Don Hancock, who was dripping with water from head to toe, told CNN that he has only lived in his home for less than a year and watched the flood water enter the basement and garage of his new home.
“I was a firefighter in New York. I've been there many times to help people, but I've never experienced that side of it,” Hancock said. “Once the water goes down, we go day by day, clean it up and move on. What can we do?”
