MILTON — As crews work to clear up the debris left by the flood, town officials said they are relieved that the dam worked in the last two days to contain the rising waters of Arrowhead Mountain Lake.
“This is the worst that Milton has ever seen,” Michaela Foody, director of public safety, said on Wednesday. “Right now we are assessing our infrastructure and opening our roads back up.”
Parts of Route 7 — a major thoroughfare — were flooded on Tuesday and some commuter traffic was impacted, Foody said. The waters receded and most of the road was open Wednesday, although some other roads were closed.
As the waters rose, Green Mountain Power responded to ensure the dam operated well. The utility owns the Clark Falls Dam and was “a huge support to this town during the flooding last night. They worked tirelessly to make sure that we were as safe as we could be,” Foody said.
“They essentially were controlling as much as they could with the amount of water that was coming down the levels of the Arrowhead Lake and trying to send that water safely through,” she said.
The water is still moving fast but the lake looked good on Wednesday, she added.
The dam is working well and crews will continue to monitor it, said Kristin Kelly, a spokesperson for Green Mountain Power.
“This really was an example of the team working collaboratively with the community and the dam working exactly as it is designed to during an extreme high-water event,” she said.
The 720-acre lake spans the towns of Fairfax, Georgia and Milton.
As the sun painted rainbows in the mist over the gushing waters of the dam at the corner of Ice House Road, Town Manager Don Turner, Jr. said Milton has fared well compared to many other parts of the state during this week’s catastrophic storm.
“There’s no question that the volume of water coming through Milton (from the Lamoille River) was much greater than anything I’ve seen in my lifetime,” he said.
Meanwhile, the town is flushing water lines and confirming the water valves can be shut off if there is a mains break or a bridge failure near the Arrowhead Bridge. Residents are advised to run their cold water taps until it runs clear if the water is cloudy or colored. No boil water alerts had been issued as of Wednesday afternoon.
Recommended evacuation areas include Rainbow Place, River Street and Ritchie Avenue, and the Sandbar State Park on Route 2. A handful of neighbors were evacuated in the floodplain this week, according to Foody.
“I know individual citizens are still unable to get back to their homes to assess their own damages at this time but it’s going to be a while yet until we know the true impact of the storm,” she said.
