MARSHFIELD, Vt. — New England suffered no immediate blow from Hurricane Berylbut its remnants caused severe damage in the northern part of the region and severe flooding that killed two people in Vermont, officials said.
According to Vermont authorities, both men were killed when their vehicles were swept into floodwaters.
Vermont State Police said 33-year-old Dylan Kempton was killed Wednesday night when a culvert burst and swept away his van while he was driving home in the town of Peacham.
His body was found by search teams on Thursday morning.
Late Thursday morning, 73-year-old John Rice of Concord died when his car was swept off the road by 250-foot (75-meter) floodwaters and landed in a hayfield that was submerged more than 10 feet (3 meters) under water, Lyndonville police said.
Witnesses told Lyndonville Police Chief Jack Harris that Rice ignored a group of people who advised him not to drive into the area where his vehicle was washed out.
Early Thursday evening, Rice’s body was recovered by a sea rescue team after a lengthy search, Harris said.
AP Photo/Lisa Rathke
Apartment building swept away by flood waters
The remains of Beryl heavy rains hit Vermont, washing away a large portion of an apartment building, sweeping away bridges and cutting off towns, and a state still recovering from the catastrophic flooding that a year ago to the day.
More than 100 people were rescued by swift-water crews during the worst of the rain, which began Wednesday and continued Thursday, officials said. In Plainfield, residents of a six-unit apartment building had just minutes to evacuate before floodwaters destroyed it, the city’s emergency management director said.
Stunned residents came out Thursday to survey the damage in a string of small towns along a hilly corridor of the Winooski River, much of which is connected by U.S. Highway 2. Parts of the artery were closed, along with dozens of other roads. Emergency shelters were opened in several communities.
The deluge dropped more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain on parts of Vermont, with the heaviest rainfall in the same areas that were devastated on July 10, 2023, said Marlon Verasamy of the National Weather Service in Burlington. Rivers had crested in nearly all locations by late Thursday afternoon.
“It is not lost on any of us how ironic it is that this flooding happened exactly one year ago, when many cities were impacted last year,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott told reporters.
Fire Department Dalton Rescue
The towns hardest hit by Beryl’s rains are east of the capital Montpelier. The town was flooded last year, but this week no serious damage occurred.
In Plainfield, a concrete bridge collapsed and fell downstream, likely causing the destruction of a five-unit apartment building, said Michael Billingsley, the city’s emergency management director.
The occupant of another home was pulled through a window to safety just before the house was swept downstream. Also drifted away was a mobile home containing four pets belonging to a family that had barely escaped, he said.
Hilary Conant said she had to flee her apartment just as she had a year earlier when the Great Brook began to rise.
“It’s like going back to last year,” she said. “The water was coming up, so I knew it was time to take my dog and leave. It’s very traumatizing.” A neighbor offered a camper. She and her dog, Casper, offered shelter Thursday at Goddard College, which opened dormitories to displaced residents.
Around the corner from her house was the apartment building that collapsed. The front was still standing, but the rest was destroyed or gone. “It’s otherworldly,” she said. “It’s devastating.”
Storm Damage in New England
Six tornadoes struck western New York on Wednesday, damaging homes and barns and uprooting trees, the weather service said. Some areas in the state received 4 or more inches of rain, sending water running through the streets of the village of Lowville.
Flash flooding also closed roads in several northern New Hampshire communities, including Monroe, Dalton, Lancaster and Littleton. Authorities there said 20 people were temporarily trapped at a Walmart store and rescuers had to bring water out of the area.
Efforts to build resilience appeared to be paying off in Vermont. Flood control dams performed “phenomenally” aside from the failure of one dam with minimal impact to property or roads, said Jason Batchelder, state environmental commissioner.
But the damage, which came as some residents are still waiting for federal disaster aid after flooding a year ago, was still a bitter pill to swallow.
“It’s hard to see people in your community suffering and having to go through this again,” said Thom Lauzon, the mayor of hard-hit Barre.
Although Vermont is not a coastal state, it has experience with tropical weather. Tropical Storm Irene dropped 11 inches of rain on parts of Vermont in 24 hours in 2011. The storm killed six people in the state, washed homes off their foundations, and damaged or destroyed more than 200 bridges and 500 miles of highway.
In May, Vermont became the first state to introduce a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for some of the damage caused by extreme weather fueled by climate change. Scott, a Republican, let the bill become law without his signature, citing concerns about the cost of a grueling legal battle. But he recognized a need.
“Climate change is real,” Scott said Thursday. “I think we all have to accept that, regardless of your political persuasion, and deal with it, because we have to build back stronger, safer, smarter.”
Hurricane Beryl responsible for at least 9 deaths in the US
Beryl, which is blamed for at least nine deaths in the US – including six in Texas and one in Louisiana – and 11 in the Caribbean, made landfall in Texas on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and left millions of people in the Houston area without powerIt then moved across the interior of the U.S. as a post-tropical cyclone, bringing flooding and occasional tornadoes from the Great Lakes to Canada and northern New England.
According to energy company PowerOutage.us, just over a million homes and businesses in the Houston area were still without power Thursday night, up from a peak of more than 2.7 million on Monday.
The storm caused at least $3.3 billion in damage across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, according to Karen Clark & Company, a Boston-based firm that is working with insurance companies to estimate the cost of the disaster.
A flash estimate was issued Thursday of $2.7 billion in privately insured U.S. losses, along with $510 million in the Caribbean and $90 million in Mexico. The estimate is for insured properties only and does not include homes covered by the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, so total losses will be higher.
Evacuations in Vermont
Parts of northern New York and New England, including Vermont, were under flood warnings early Thursday morning. Thunderstorms associated with Beryl were forecast for much of the East Coast through Friday, the National Weather Service said.
Vermont Emergency Management reported Wednesday evening that an unknown number of evacuations and road closures have been made due to flooding, primarily in the central part of the state.
“Vermonters and visitors are encouraged to seek higher ground as floodwaters approach,” the statement said. Emergency crews and the National Guard were on standby, the agency said.
The weather service said Wednesday that the storm “will not be comparable to the catastrophic flooding of last July, but will still pose a real threat in areas prone to flash flooding.”
Vermont, far inland, nevertheless has experience with tropical weather. Tropical Storm Irene dumped 11 inches of rain on parts of Vermont in 24 hours in 2011. The storm killed six people in the state, washed homes off their foundations and damaged or destroyed more than 200 bridges and 500 miles of highway.