The Mad River Valley escaped the worst of the flooding after almost two days of rain caused significant statewide damage including in Waterbury, Montpelier, Barre, Richmond, and southern Vermont.
Local emergency management directors (EMD) were actively out monitoring the situation from Warren to Moretown and keeping an eye on river levels, infrastructure, and the potential need for people to evacuate. Moretown’s EMD and fire chief Stefan Pratt reached out to residents of Moretown Village on Monday afternoon, July 10, to alert them to the possibility of needing to evacuate that night when the Mad River crested.
Moretown School, which would have been an evacuation site, was under construction and Waitsfield’s EMD and select board member Fred Messer made plans to open Waitsfield School if needed.
The Mad River crested at about 9.8 feet at the U.S. stream gage in Moretown near midnight with flows peaking at some 7,800 cubic feet per second.
“It seems that the Mad River Valley dodged a bullet last night. The Mad River did not leave its banks. There are no reported road closures in The Valley though the Jones Brook area of Moretown did lose much of its road network there,” Messer said.
On Monday evening, July 10, Moretown Select Board chair Tom Martin said the town had its own road crew equipment and that of contractors staged to begin work on Herring Brook and Jones Brook Roads which were completely washed out with holes and ditches 8 feet deep and 20 miles long.
“We’ve got 3-inch rock staged and have three different private contractors lined up to help first thing in the morning,” Martin said.
Warren’s EMD and fire chief Jeff Campbell said that Warren came through the storm with roads and infrastructure intact.
The Waterbury Roundabout is reporting that River Road in Duxbury was washed out in places. That road is closed from Main Street to the Winooski Street bridge and from Camel’s Hump Road to the Bolton town line. Additionally, the Winooski River flooded the fields by the state office complex as well as Randall and Elm Streets. Brookside Primary School was opened as a shelter just before midnight on July 10.
Fayston Select Board chair Jared Cadwell said that town road foreman Stuart Hallstrom reported that town roads held up well.
LOCAL FARMS
Most local farmers reported no damage to fields, including Elwin Neill, David Hartshorn, and Hadley Gaylord, all in Waitsfield.
“We did a lot of praying to the gods of nature and we were spared. The Valley was an island in the middle of a sea where everyone around us got devastated. In a way, I feel guilty,” Hartshorn said.
Dairy farmer David DeFreest, Warren, who has crop lands from Granville to Middlesex, Waterbury and Montpelier, was heading out to check those fields on Wednesday morning, July 12, as the floodwaters receded. He said some of the fields were under 10 feet of water.
Eric Friedman, executive director of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was working to connect people who want to help with people who need help, particularly in Waterbury and Montpelier and also in Ludlow.
“We feel fortunate that we weren’t impacted as badly as we could have been, and we know what our neighbors are going through and we want to be able to help. We’ve had an upswell of folks reaching out to figure out how to help,” he said.
The Sugarbush snowmaking pond received minimal damage with the river overtopping the dam in two locations.
“Both the upstream and downstream embankments held, receiving little to no damage. As designed, the pond released water via the emergency spillway on the northwest corner of the pond. Important to note that the newly constructed project from last year (the weir) was not near any of these topovers nor was it damaged in any way, resort spokesperson John Bleh said.
“In comparison, Tropical Storm Irene caused the upstream embankment to breach and the downstream embankment to erode but not fully breach, resulting in significant damage to the embankments and filling the pond with sediment. This was nowhere near that,” he added.
Friends of the Mad River canceled its bi-monthly River Watch Program on Monday, July 10, because it was unsafe for volunteers to be out in the high water, said director Ira Shadis. Post the high-water event, he said that the river advocacy group would be looking for erosion along the river and areas where water may have moved significant amounts of dirt, needing restoration. Shadis said that after flooding there will be more sedimentation and if that persists after other areas have cleared, it could be something that will need to be explored further upstream of the site.
TRAILS
David Rob Wilch of the Mad River Riders reported that Valley biking trails survived the storm but some are waterlogged. “From our scouting efforts today (Tuesday), it looks like we fared pretty well. Because this storm wasn’t very windy, we didn’t see the tree damage that a typical storm would bring. We do have a lot of water on the tread of the trails. It appears to be draining fairly well in the areas that have designed drainage. In the areas that we rely on percolation, it is slow going. We will have our trail crews out there for the remainder of the week. They will be working hard to clean up and help with the draining. For now, we ask that bike traffic stays off the trails, but we hope to be opening things as trails dry out in the days ahead. Please stay tuned into Trailforks for Trail Statuses, as well as look to Mad River Riders' Instagram account for other happenings. Please, if you see anything on the mapped trails that needs attending to shoot us an email at:
Laura Arnesen, executive director of the Mad River Valley Recreation District, said fields at the Mad River Park were unscathed and are ready for recreation though some trails have standing water. "Spaulding Greenway is largely underwater, which is great, as it acts like a holding sponge, minimizing the flood downstream. There is standing water on the trail, plus trees and debris across the West Greenway. I will be there on Thursday to start clearing. The fields at Mad River Park look great, no standing water, very green and they are useable for recreation," she said.
MONTPELIER AND WATERBURY
While the Valley survived the storm with little damage, Montpelier did not fare so well. Streets are flooded and there is significant damage to downtown. Montpelier Alive is coordinating volunteers for relief efforts. "We know businesses are devastated by the damage and want to get started on clean up. People interested in volunteering can sign up at https://forms.gle/aW7btCR9uJhjxkef8 and we will be communicating with them about timing and tasks in the upcoming days. Right now, we are still encouraging people to hold off until the city has evaluated hazards downtown. We are also starting a GoFundMe campaign for the businesses as well," said Katie Trautz, executive director of Montpelier Alive.
In Waterbury, the town website www.waterburyvt.com has a sign up for volunteers and requests for help. It can be found in the News section on a resource document that is being regularly updated.
The state of Vermont is also asking those who wish to donate to recovery do so via cash donation to established relief organization like the Red Cross or Vermont Disaster Recovery Fund (https://www.vdrf.org/).
