Southern Vermont Post Topical Storm Irene

While on the road for work--I am an environmental educator and run a mobile nature center that travels throughout the Connecticut River Watershed--I had a day off and decided to tour southern Vermont.  I have lived in Burlington, VT for 7 years several years back and recently moved back after living in Maui, Arizona, and Florida.  I have traveled throughout northern and central Vermont quite extensively, but never much further south than Middlebury.  About a week before Tropical Storm Irene ravaged southern Vermont, I went to a friend's wedding near Rutland.  I actually stayed at the same hotel as I did for the wedding.  Let me say one thing--the area has forever changed.

Traveling west on Rt. 4 from Woodstock, the road winds along next to the river.  This is true of the roads for most of Vermont.  Since the state is so mountainous, the only feasible place to build roads is in the valleys, which is where the rivers are.  I did a loop on Rt. 100 to go for a hike and to explore a part of the state I have never been, but it ended up being more of a tour of destruction.

I saw displaced houses and cars, torn-up roads, mangled guardrails, dissolved black top, remnants of bridges, and thick river mud.  I could see where landslides had occurred with scars over 100 feet on the river banks.  And how the power of the river knocked down massive trees.  And just when I thought I saw the worst destruction, there was more.  It was utterly unbelievable.  Every road, every town, every property.  I couldn't even imagine what it was like for those people to have gone through that experience.  A lot of houses were abandoned with moldy furniture and personal belongings covering what used to be lawns.  Businesses closed down because half of the building was gone.  People moving out with devastation on their faces.

This was about a month after the storm hit.  Most of the roads were fixed and new guardrails put in.  At every bend in the road, I could see a fresh patch of asphalt.  It wasn't hard to see where the water had been and where the water had gone.  I also saw construction vehicles in the river and fresh boulders strategically placed on inlets to the river.

Since the storm, I have also traveled on Rt. 9 and driven through Brattleboro and Waterbury, two major towns that were hit.  I'm not sure if these towns will ever be the same.  Not to say that they aren't resilient and can't rebound, but that some of the history and character of the towns will forever be changed.