Brattleboro suffers damaging floods
As published on page one of the August 29, 2011 edition of the Keene Sentinel, and online.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. -- Flooding from rains caused by Tropical Storm Irene wreaked havoc on Brattleboro Sunday.
Many West Brattleboro residents remain evacuated from their homes, and roads in the area were decimated. The flooding extended into the heart of the downtown central business district.
"At this point it's overwhelming. We have so many areas of concern we're trying to prioritize -- where do we go first?" Selectboard Chairman Richard A. DeGray told reporters this morning.
Route 9 remains closed from Citizens Bridge in Brattleboro to Bennington, Vt., and many people do not have access to their homes, he said.
The Whetstone Brook crested its bank Sunday and caused significant erosion, washing away the ground beneath roads and buildings.
By Sunday afternoon, one lane of Williams Street just east of the Route 91 overpass in West Brattleboro was crumbling into the brook. Further downstream, the back of the building that houses the Whetstone Studio for the Arts was suspended above the raging water, a chunk of the first floor washed away. The street around the building was covered in a thick layer of slick gray mud.
"It was just a river coming down the road," said Jason Barrows of Brattleboro, who works near the studio and witnessed the height of the flood.
Kelly Price, who lives near the eroded portion of Williams Street, described the scene during the height of the flooding.
"It's insane. I mean, the trees were snapping and hitting power lines, and then they'd be sucked away by the water," he said.
The downtown also saw significant flooding.
By late afternoon on Sunday the water had subsided about two feet and still had further to go.
A muddy brown current flowed down Flat Street and turned right onto Main before rejoining the still-swollen brook on its route to the Connecticut River. Police tape cordoned off the intersection -- in the heart of downtown Brattleboro.
Sophie Mueller and Matthew Clegg took shelter under the awning of a shuttered Main Street business and watched the flowing water. The couple's nearby apartment had lost power, and they were staying with friends. Mueller said her Honda Civic had been destroyed.
"We had the (Brooks House) fire in April and the two murders in the area and now this," Clegg said. "It's kind of one thing after the other."
A steady stream of wide-eyed locals visited the Transportation Center parking deck on Elliot Street, where the upper levels afforded a bird's-eye view of the devastation between Flat Street and the bank of the brook.
Dumpsters sat at odd angles. Something brown swirled in the water. A sheriff's deputy on the ground floor warned people not to touch the water or mud because they had been contaminated with raw sewage.
"My thoughts right now is these businesses are in trouble," said Henry Garland of Putney, Vt., one of the onlookers on the parking deck.
A green roof that looked like it might have belonged on a medium-sized shed went flying down the brook as he talked.
"I've lived here for 25 years and I've never seen it like this," said Ray Macneill of Brattleboro, another onlooker.
By 8:30 this morning, Main Street was clear and coffee shops were opening for business.
Workers were busy clearing the mud from Flat Street, which remained closed.
Sections of Frost Street, Elm Street and Williams Street, Westgate Drive, George Miller Drive, Glen Street, Dettman Drive, Aikley Road, Cooke Road, Melchen Road and Ames Hill are also closed, according to the town manager's office.
There are still portions of downtown without water and power, according to DeGray, who said that much work would be done today.
Opening roads will be one of the first priorities, he said. "It's hopscotch trying to get around town."
> Brattleboro officials will hold a special public information meeting today at 3 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center for property owners who have been affected by the evacuations.
Keene Sentinel staff writer Abby Spegman contributed to this report.
tagged with: Hurricane Irene, Vermont
<< Irene storms into region; residents dig in Brattleboro focuses on rebuilding after devastation >>