By Layla Kalinen
EAGLE TIMES VERMONT REPORTER
WINDSOR, Vt. — A record breaking rain storm Sunday evening continued into Monday morning with significant, life-threatening floods in Ludlow, Cavendish, Chester, Andover, Londonderry, Springfield, Weatherfield and the Rockingham township and surrounding villages.
As the storm began Sunday, Vermont Gov. Phill Scott declared an official State of Emergency.
In Ludlow, flash flooding caused a landslide, placing three quarters of the Okemo Marketplace underwater, said Vermot Emergency Management Director Mark Bosma. In Cavendish and Proctorsville, the villages braced as the Black River climbed. Bosma predicts the river will reach just under the official flood line by tomorrow.
More high waters are predicted for the Williams River and Connecticut River, while the White River on Monday afternoon had crested close its definition of maximum floodline, Bosma said.
“The catalyst for this you know, is the ground was saturated the other night with some pretty heavy rainfall and then just five or six inches of rain on top of that and the ground just couldn’t take it and so it it flowed off hillsides and the mountains,” Bosma said.
That left small towns taking the brunt of the storm.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, southern portion of mainstreet in Chester was underwater cresting above the gas pumps at the local Sunoco gas station.
In the last 24 hours, Londonderry and the western Andover area received 5 to 8 inches of rain Bosma said. That’s almost the entire season’s rainfall in 24 hours.
“That sets us up, unfortunately, for a very significant flooding event,” Bosma explained.
The storm tapered off Monday evening, with it being hopeful that conditions will be favorable on Tuesday to put towns back together.
Matthew Clay of the National Weather Service office in Burlington, said there was both good and bad news ahead.
“We have seen a lot of flooding in Londonderry, Weston and Mount Holly. We’ve seen significant flooding where like pretty much the whole town is underwater at this point and it’s been a very significant flood event. One that’s rivaling, if not exceeding, impacts from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.” Clay said.
“The only good news that I can pass along at this time, is it looks like the heaviest rain has come to an end. … We will have to watch the rivers as we head into the overnight hours as we’re expecting all of these floodwaters to begin to enter our river basin.”
“We do have some flood warnings out across the White River right now which feeds into the Connecticut which is pretty rare. We don’t see a lot of flooding along that. The last time we had flooding actually was in 2011 when Irene made landfalls so we are actively monitoring the rivers out there.”
Clay said the Weather Service will be closely monitoring the rivers over the next three days.
“We are looking at a period of prolonged impacts from these floodwaters. The good news is, I think our rain chances … into Tuesday are getting pretty low just as the the rainfall is going to be shifting north into northern Vermont. So, I think we do have a bit of dry weather in store for that area on Tuesday and Wednesday and then we should unfortunately have another chance of thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday,” Clay said.
He urges residents to remain cautious as it won’t take much more rain to cause additional problems.
“This [has] definitely been a flooding event for the record books,” he said.
New Hampshire
As of Monday evening, Sullivan County had reported very little damage compared to Cheshire County, where damage was reported to be more of an ongoing threat.
According to Vanessa Pasma of New Hampshire Emergency Services and the Department Of Homeland Security, Sullivan County had not requested emergency services as of Monday evening.
Since “our State Emergency Operation Center activated at 9 a.m., we have been in contact with towns throughout the state including those that are in Sullivan County in regards to if they need any sort of support.
“As of this time all of them have been towns in Cheshire county,” Pasma said.
According to Stephen Ron of the National Weather Service, Sullivan County fared much better han Vermont.
Claremont Fire Chief Jim Chamberlain said he had witnessed minimal impact and no calls from surrounding towns in Sullivan County.
We’ll have to see what the next 48 hours brings.,” Chamberlain said.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.