Vermont gets respite from flood warnings as US senator pushes for disaster aid package

MORGAN, Vt. (AP) — Vermonters started removing debris and silt from their houses and yards and pulled out damaged goods from homes on Thursday as crews began the process of repairing roads from the latest bout of violent flooding that came just weeks after more widespread flooding in the state.

In Morgan, near the Canadian border, trucks continuously traveled a stretch of closed road delivering dirt and gravel to some heavily damaged roads. The roads with sections washed away were inaccessible by car, leaving some residents stranded.

The flooding early Tuesday morning ripped the ground and road away from around Richard and Patty Morley’s house and foundation on Seymour Lake, depositing rocks, silt and debris in their yard and covering their dock. Across the road, Toad Pond Road was crumbled and washed away in parts.

“The water came down Toad Pond Road off the hill, a mile or two up the road, and a lot of headwater pressure coming down and the streams and culverts couldn’t handle it and this is where it ends up,” said Richard Morley. “It washed out all of this but more importantly it ended up in the lake. That to me is more of an issue.”

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He, his wife and 6-year-old grandson evacuated at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, walking through knee-deep rushing water after neighbors who live across the road arrived to help them leave. The small town got over 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain in about three hours, overwhelming roads and cutting out some home foundations, said Bruce Remick, a town selectboard member. The flooding caused a tremendous amount of damage to state and town roads, he said.

Gov. Phil Scott said at a news conference Wednesday that the latest storms to hit the state have undone much of the cleanup and recovery work from its last major bout of flooding only weeks ago, and he called on residents to “stick together.”

“This time, it’s especially bad after workers spent the past three weeks working furiously to recover from the last flooding, ” Scott said. “It feels much worse than a punch or a kick. It’s simply demoralizing. But we can’t give up. We’ve got to stick together and fight back against the feeling of defeat.”

State officials said preliminary information indicated that 50 homes were destroyed or suffered significant damage. More than half a dozen roads were closed, a lightning strike knocked out water for part of the town of St. Johnsbury, and flooding had contaminated several wells that serve the village of Lyndonville.

In Washington, Democratic U.S. Sen. Peter Welch asked Congress to pass a supplemental disaster aid package.

“We can’t recover without that federal help,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday night. “I just can’t stress this enough. We need Congress to step up. And we need the help of all of us here because well, it’s Vermont this time, it may be New Hampshire next time. It may be Texas next month. And I believe all of us have to help one another when an event occurs causing such harm to people we represent. And it’s through no fault of their own.”

Vermont experienced major flooding earlier in July caused by what was left of Hurricane Beryl. The flooding destroyed roads and bridges and inundated farms, and it came exactly a year after a previous bout of severe flooding hit Vermont and several other states.

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.