By Layla Kalinen EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CHESTER, Vt. — Teams from the Chester Fire Department and Vermont’s state Urban Search and Rescue Team worked non-stop during the storm to make more than three dozen rescues.
“We did approximately 30 rescues in the Chester-Andover area,” Fire Chief Matthew Wilson said, noting the 14 Andover rescues were at the Horseshoe Acres Campground.
Williams River emergency services were also deployed, Wilson said.
“We were activated at [3 p.m.] on Sunday,” Wilson said. “We brought in our technical rescue team… specialists both in ropes and swiftwater and flood-water rescues.”
On both the north end to the south end of the village with a population of more than 3,000 year round residents where Route 103 and Route 11 intersect rescue operations were deployed to the most problematic areas.
In addition to stranding campers and residents, the flood waters tipped over propane tanks creating the potential for explosions, Wilson said.
“A lot of people heeded the warnings,” he said. “We did have some people that refused. Then we ended up having to go rescue them afterwards.”
Wilson warns residents to pay attention to upcoming weather forecasts and watch for alerts as more wet weather is expected.
“Hopefully, it turns into nothing, but we need to prepare. The ground is already saturated and it will not take much to flood again,” Wilson said.
Sunoco Floods
On Route 103 South, the Chester Sunoco was assaulted by swift currents.
Sunoco District Manager Erika Young said a watermark stands 10 inches above the ground on the outside of the station and eye witnesses said water covered the gas pump handles.
“I got here probably around 2:30 [p.m.] and we had some of our maintenance team try to sandbag around the store to protect it. And, at that point, the water hadn’t quite breached over the bank,” she said.
But by 3 p.m. the water reached the top of the banks and by 3:15 the rescue effort “was fruitless,” Young said.
“By about 3:20 we lost our dumpsters and that’s when we realized that it was really kind of getting very serious. So, we came into the store with one employee and just started unplugging everything, killing the power.
At 4:15 they took flight, “rushing out the front door as water started to come in.”
Young said the Jiffy Mart gas station across the street assisted in helping them until it was realized evacuation was mandatory and swift.
“So it was less than 15 minutes from when it started coming into the back parking lot until it started coming up the front door.”
The gas station across the street lent totes to fill up and handtrucks to help them out.
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