Update: On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers downgraded its earlier flood warning for communities downstream of southeastern Vermont’s Ball Mountain and Townshend dams. Read more here.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warned Monday night that it expected to release “unprecedented quantities of water” over the spillways of two southern Vermont dams.
The releases at Ball Mountain Dam in Jamaica and Townshend Dam, which could begin around daybreak on Tuesday, “will result in severe flooding downstream” of the dams, the Army Corps said in a written statement. Both are part of flood control infrastructure on the West River, which flows southeast toward Brattleboro and joins the Connecticut River.
Both dams are functioning as designed, the Army Corps said, but the spillway releases are expected to “add flows that will exceed riverbanks and flood the nearby areas.”
At greatest risk are the low-lying areas of Jamaica, Townshend, Newfane, Brookline, Dummerston and Brattleboro — as well as the New Hampshire towns of Chesterfield and Hinsdale. Londonderry is also expected to be affected by the high reservoir, according to the Army Corps.
“Floodwaters will increase rapidly overnight and we recommend taking precautions now,” the Army Corps said. “Increased flooding may limit access to roads and limit the ability to evacuate.”
