Flooding from Hurricane Irene left Bennington County residents in a state of shock and disbelief.
Woodford and Searsburg residents are virtually cut off from emergency services, and untold challenges face utility workers trying to restore power and landline telephone services to those communities. Sections of Arlington, Manchester, North Bennington, Bennington and Pownal were immersed in rushing flood waters on Sunday, and town officials began to assess the damage on Monday.
Most Woodford residents are without power, Internet and landline telephone service. Cellular service is spotty, and there is one access point for vehicular traffic to the village.
Rep. William “Bill” Botzow, D-Pownal/Woodford, said that current conditions mean emergency responders cannot get to many Woodford residents for fire or medical emergencies; busing service to Mount Anthony will be difficult (the first day of school has been rescheduled for Sept. 7) and utility restoration efforts by Central Vermont Public Service and FairPoint Communications may be hampered.
Botzow said that as of early Monday afternoon he had not been in direct contact with Gov. Peter Shumlin. He said he was confident that the governor knew of Bennington County’s dire situation.
“Awareness isn’t the challenge,” Botzow said. “Organizing all of what is needed, that is the challenge.”
Bennington town residents are being asked to conserve water after the collapse of a Route 9 bridge damaged a town water line. The bridge was the only direct link to Woodford and other eastern Vermont towns.
Town Manager Stuart Hurd said residents and businesses use about 2 million gallons of water a day. The Morgan Spring is providing some water to the town, but it only offers about 1 million gallons daily. Engineers are hopeful that a temporary water line can be constructed within 24 to 48 hours – about the amount of water needed for that time period.
State officials may install a temporary bridge. At this point, the only vehicular access to the town is through Massachusetts to Stamford, Vt., and then a public roadway that cuts off from Route 100 and ends up at the top of Searsburg on Route 9.
The Hannaford Square Plaza in Bennington remained a sea of muck, and businesses were without power and closed as of Monday morning. Work crews used heavy equipment to clear inches-deep mud slicks from the 3-foot to 4-foot waters that had receded. A Hannaford supermarket, a Rent-A-center store and a movie rental shop were all impacted by the flood waters and residual filth.
A plaza-based Hampton Inn hotel was forced to evacuate about 30 guests Sunday as dank swirling waters rose and generated extreme danger within minutes.
Teresa Bryanton and Ricky McGinn of British Colombia, Canada, were evacuated with their 4-month-old daughter, Ashlyah.
“They started the evacuation at about 1:30 p.m.,” Bryanton said. “We were weighing the safety of leaving over the safety of staying because we were on the third floor, and I could see that the water we had to walk through was moving. We did pack up a bag and we left. I was scared, I was crying, but the baby, she was smiling up at the firefighters. When everyone realized we had a baby, they put us in a vehicle out of the rain and took us to the shelter at the [Mount Anthony Union Middle School].”
Bennington Rural Volunteer Fire Department Captain Shaun Gardner said that most people were cooperative during the evacuation. An inflatable raft and rowboats were used to move people; about 170 people were housed overnight at the middle school, Gardner said.
Hotel guests were able to return today and gather belongings, but with the power shut off until an inspection of the building can occur, no guests were allowed to remain in the building. The hotel lobby was coated with slick brown mud and several cars in the parking lot were water- and mud- damaged, Gardner said.
“The water came quick,” Gardner said. “Everyone was busy trying to get the guests out, and that mud just went right down the hallways.”
All area emergency responders, including members of the Bennington and North Bennington volunteer fire departments, the Bennington rescue squad and town police officers were moving from one emergency to another as quickly as possible. In addition to bridge damage and main road closures, flooding impacted dozens of homes. Fears about rising waters caused evacuation of Gage Street.
Bennington Village Fire Department Dispatcher Richard Prentiss said that two additional bridges, the Park Street Bridge near the Mount Anthony Union High School and the Brooklyn Bridge on County Street, are closed. A covered bridge near Silk Road is destroyed, and state Routes 11 and 40 remain closed, Prentiss said.
“We have a lot of cases of ‘you can’t get there from here,’” he said.
Numerous residents of the Green Mountain and Alta Gardens mobile home parks in Pownal were evacuated, as a normally benign creek became a roaring river and rushed over a small wall with torrents of water.
“I was scared,” said 5-year-old Dominic Peretta. “My toys were floating in the yard.”
Dominic and his parents, Anthony Perretta and Tasha Moore, spent the night in a shelter at the Pownal Valley fire house. Initial plans to shelter people at the Pownal Elementary School were abandoned before the storm struck, after town officials realized the generator wasn’t working.
“I saw the water coming up, and I called the Bennington police,” Perretta said. “They told me to call the Vermont State Police. The state police told me to call the local fire department. I called, and when they got here, they said, ‘You’re leaving.’ They started an evacuation right away, because of the water and the dangers about [propane] gas and the electricity. The power to the park was shut off.”
Power was restored to the Alta Gardens mobile home park, but as of late morning had not been turned on at the Green Mountain mobile park, which was home to 50 families.
Gardner urged area residents to inspect their homes and properties for damage. If issues are discovered, he encouraged folks to contact the appropriate repair experts.
Municipal officials said that people who ventured close to swollen riverbanks to take pictures and videos put themselves in unnecessary danger and were an impediment to emergency workers.
“We did have difficulty with gawkers,” Hurd said. “I don’t think people understand how dangerous this was.”
Hurd said he was very grateful to the many emergency responders who worked tirelessly during the storm.
“There wasn’t much we could do to stop what was happening, but I believe that these volunteers prevented loss of life,” Hurd said. “I cannot say enough good about them.”
