After yet another catastrophic flood on Tuesday — and more torrential rains in today's forecast — Gov. Phil Scott is out of metaphors.
After calling December's flooding "a punch in the stomach" and the rains that fell earlier this month, on the anniversary of last year's historic flood, "a kick in the teeth," Scott said Wednesday that this week's latest round of flooding felt "simply demoralizing."
"But we can't give up. We've got to stick together and fight back against the feeling of defeat," the Republican said at press conference in Berlin. "If there was ever a time when we needed our tight knit communities to show up, it's now."
Tuesday's flooding was much more localized than what took place in 2023 and earlier this month, when the remnants of Hurricane Beryl came to Vermont. But where the rains fell hard, they once again destroyed homes, roads, and required a dozen swift water rescues. St. Johnsbury saw a historic 8.08 inches of rain in a single day — shattering a record set in 1913.
The severe flash flooding that occurred yesterday in the state's Northeast Kingdom took officials somewhat by surprise, Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said Wednesday. A small storm system unexpectedly stalled out over Essex and Caledonia counties, dumping between four and eight inches of rain overnight in areas such as Lyndonville, Danville, St. Johnsbury, Morgan and Island Pond.
Still, Morrison said that swift water rescues teams immediately leapt into action and saved lives.
"In a matter of hours, 50 personnel responded and made 12 rescues and 15 evacuations," she said.
More rain is in the forecast today, and the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch, in effect until midnight, for all Vermont counties save for Bennington and Windham.
While officials aren't expecting to see nearly as much rain as yesterday, they say that saturated soils and already damaged infrastructure mean even one or two inches or rain could have catastrophic impacts.
"I think I get more apprehensive every storm," Scott said.
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