The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has downgraded its earlier flood warning for communities downstream of southeastern Vermont’s Ball Mountain and Townshend dams.
“We no longer expect … to release large amounts of water over the spillways in the next 48 hours,” the corps said in a written statement Tuesday morning. “Water will still be released from the dams, but in smaller amounts than previously anticipated.”
The corps had issued an evacuation alert Monday night that said “unprecedented quantities of water” would result in “severe flooding” in low-lying areas in Brattleboro, Brookline, Dummerston, Jamaica, Newfane and Townshend, as well as neighboring communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
But officials revised their assessment Tuesday morning as local authorities monitored water levels along the Connecticut and West rivers.
“Many river levels have peaked and are beginning to recede,” they said in a new statement. “Although additional rain is expected in the next 72 hours, we are actively managing the reservoirs to provide capacity to hold the water.”
